Copycat
by dream0fmirrors
Summary: Everyone hates the Boogeyman,everyone mocks or fears...but who is she really,who can actually see her,does she even have a voice?Does she exist at all?In the end,maybe,she was just that...OCxCanon challenge fic,so can I do it?Maybe...read and see!"smile"
1. Chapter 1

When kids are young, parents often scare them into acting right… acting properly, is the better word, I think… but I was never good at words. Not sure why I'm the one talking `bout this in the first place, that's not my story…

Sometimes, I feel like I had the smallest part of it of all. `S not hers, either… but oh, you seem confused, please excuse me! I'm sorry! I guess I ramble a lot… strange, really, since my brother's usually the talker… but I think the most… `cept my thoughts seem to differ so often and I lose track of all I wanted to say…

Right. Parents think that kids would do all the nasty, yucky, boring things if they're frightened… which is bollocks to me. How can the Boogeyman, or some vampire, or some evil witch make you feel like eating broccoli or going to bed? If you're scared, you can barely sleep a wink, and I doubt food's on your mind… well, unless you're me… but even I don' like broccoli! Yuck! And I eat magnets and tables! So why do parents do that?

While kids are scared of goblins and monsters, ghosts and such, in Burbank, we had our own phantom, this shadow under your bed… we called her Copycat.

Maybe I should start from the beginning. I mean, you don't live in LA… or do you? If you do, please be nice and wait a while… since I'm sure you really don' know `er that much…

I didn't know about her myself, not for a long time. I live a fairly happy and free life, even if my brother can be over-protective; he never threatened us, he's always been so nice! I'm sad I got to hear about her in such frightening conditions… sometimes, I think, maybe it'd be better if I never did…

Oh! If you're still confused, I'm sorry. I should've introduced myself, it's kinda weird to do it alone. I'm a Warner Brother… the middle one, my name's Wakko. I live in a huge yellow tower with my two siblings – my brother Yakko, the oldest, and smartest person I know – and my little sister Dot, the really, really cute one. We spend our lives having fun and being playful, causing mayhem wherever we go, and we even have our own show. It's funny, people pay us just to be us and run wild… I guess it works, if the fans can laugh and find us "loveable".

We're always together and we always have fun, but we go through hardships too, just like you, normal, nice people behind that screen. Also, I did say our job is fun, it's faboo – but still a job, and hard work – especially for our little Dot, since she's the youngest. She's very talented and sometimes, thinks a little high of herself, but I guess she has a right to; still, pressure can get to her and always being the "cute" one is hard, when you're a fan favorite and people follow you wherever you go.

It all started with a simple cough, and Yakko panicked; he does that, y'know – Dot didn't want to go see a doctor and figured it was just a cold. They bickered for a while, then her cough got worse ….then one morning, she woke up and she couldn't even breathe. Her throat was swollen, it seemed so painful, but the worst part of it was we could barely make out a word she said, so we had no clue what was going on. Yakko rushed her to a hospital with very few protests from our youngest sibling and I followed, scared outta my mind. As it turned out, her tonsils were infected, her throat was in bad condition and she needed treatment, some offered surgery. I still remember how white Yakko's face got when he heard the word "surgery" ….we all have white faces, but his was literally see-through.

Dot was scared, you could see, she was crying and no one could calm her down. Eventually, things somehow settled… they took out her tonsils, started her on medication and assured us all that she'll be more than fine. The smallest Warner seemed relieved… the pain was gone and she got so much free ice cream! Still, Yakko was worried out of his mind and didn't leave her sight for days and days… I wanted to help, but somehow, he always seemed the closest to her… he's always been the parent, while she and I, we're more like twins… some say she's a lot more mature than me, I think that's unfair…

But our show was still running and shooting needed to be done. Dot was on her feet and moving freely, but she had lost her voice – doctors assured only for a little while, but she could barely say a word. The studios went berserk, since we were in the middle of a season … and how would we shoot an episode with just… two Warner brothers and no sister? Yes, Yakko was quite popular… he was the charmer, the girls all loved him, me… well, I try not to get a big head, but let's just say I had my share of fans, however, everyone loved Dot… and just the two of us, for who knows how long… the writers didn't accept that, and neither did Yakko. He wanted all three of us on set, or no one would be, also, he wanted to stay home and take care of Dot, even if she was fine by herself; she was sad and scared that she'd never speak again and she needed him. Someone pitched the idea to temporarily replace her, as a joke, like that one episode on "Tiny Toon Adventures", when Buster was trying to find a new Babs … I've never seen Yakko more mad, or Dot cry harder, while me, I felt like punching the person, but kept my cool. Who could ever replace Dot? Who, in their right mind would even think something like that was ever possible? I agreed to call it quits and for once, me and my bro seemed to perfectly agree on something – however, another idea was pitched. Dot could still shoot the episodes, they'd just get someone who sounds like her to dub her speech.

Again, Yakko was on the path of screaming all of Burbank's heads off, but Dot held him back this time. It was pretty hard to communicate, however, she made us understand how bad she felt about holding the show back and how, even if she didn't have a voice, she still wanted our lives to go on like before, she wanted to give to her fans, she didn't want the show to end up postponed or even cancelled on her behalf… Yakko tried to reason that those fans didn't care for us, that we, as a family, should think about each other, that she owed the public nothing, that it was unfair and he wouldn't have it… however, eventually, he gave in. He could never say "no" to her, `specially when she gave him those big, adorable puppy eyes….

I wish I could do that. I gotta get her to teach me!

So only a week later, there we were, about to shoot the latest episode, with both my siblings moody and displeased, while I, as always, tried to keep our spirits up. I kept wondering who would dub Dot's voice; my first guess was Babs Bunny, since they did sound very much alike; however, apparently, she wasn't available… when I asked the director about her, he said she was out of the country on her own show's tour.

Before we got any information, the episode began and so did our roles, though my brother was having the hardest time communicating with "The Voice" and calling "it" his "sister sibling". Dot seemed strangely comfortable and her mouthing was in sync, of course, with some exceptions… while I just felt so weird and downright scared to communicate with someone I couldn't even see. It felt so… eerie, and creepy, but I just looked at my sister's little face and put it behind me that someone else was talking. Whoever they were, they were doing a very good job… or at least I wanted to believe that, since I wanted to talk to my sister, in a way.

It usually takes us a while to get an episode done, and after the first few days working on it, I'd come home to a very discontent Yakko, spewing words of hatred which was very unlike him; while Dot, though trying to keep her spirit up, almost seemed …afraid. Apparently hearing your voice from somewhere… around wasn't as flattering as one might think.

Guess I could relate. Everyone says I sound like Ringo Star, but at least his music is good!

"Those no good, stuck up, money hungry, life-sucking vampires! Little trolls, why I outta…" Yakko muttered, hoping that no one would hear him, yet knowing full well we did.

"… it is kinda weird." I agreed, since for the moment, Dot didn't feel like commenting via notes.

"It's just… not working. That… person… whoever it is, sounds nothing, nothing like her! I just… appalling! We get sick and they just try and replace us, like that? Hollywood for ya. I have half the mind to quit; let them try and replace "Animaniacs" with something better… or even keep it, without the three of us!" our oldest sibling went on, apparently forgetting for a moment that just because he felt like quitting, it didn't mean both Dot and I would.

….of course we would! But it's just not nice to assume that and think for us, too!

It's alright, I was angry too… but mostly, confused and still a bit scared.

"It's only for a lil while…" I wanted to make them both feel better, since I was sure Dot was feeling the same, if not worse, things that Yakko spoke up. She cradled in his lap and stood there quietly, comforting him in her own way … for a little bit, I felt like I wasn't even needed there.

"… they can't give her a little break until she gets better… we get stuck with some freak pretending to be OUR cute little sister!" Yakko muttered, a bit calmer, hugging Dot tightly. She gave out a small sigh, or maybe it was a sniffle –hard to say, really –but the thing that got my attention was his choice of words:

"…why're you callin' her a freak?"

"Who knows if it's even a she. "he went on, but regret it immediately, since now Dot threw him a hurt, and at the same time, angered word. It was clear that she wanted to scream out "So I sound like a guy?".

"I mean… " Yakko hurried to correct himself, hugging her even closer " Y'know…it… ehhhh… she sounds…female, sure, but… if she even looked the part…" he immediately stopped there, while I blinked in confusion and went closer to them both. My brother seemed a tad embarrassed about what he had just said.

"….you know `er?" I asked curiously and Dot scoot a little further so she can watch his reaction better. He looked away, trailing on:

"….weeeeeelllll…. not…. personally. I've never actually… seen her, but…I don't even know her name, I just…. Heard things."

"What things?"

"That's not really right, I don't wanna scare you, and Dot's too young for this…" he gave me a stern look, while Dot pinched him on the neck, offended. I, however, tugged on him even more:

"Tell me! What'd ya hear? I wanna know!"

"Wakko, please, we went over your nightmare phase already after you watched that "Devil wears Prada" movie…."

"Come on, I promise I won' get scared! We should know who we're talking to!" I insisted, while Dot frowned and left his lap, apparently still insulted about her fragile age. Yakko dismissed it all with a wave of his hand:

"Forget I even said anything. It's all rumors, anyway."

"But Yakk-"

"No, and I'm sticking by it, sibs. Now, let's get something to eat and put this entire bad day behind us. We'll need some shut-eye, they're having us re-do the 5th scene for the 50th time tomorrow…uhhh…" with that he walked away, probably to prepare something for dinner, leaving me and Dot in a puzzle.

"….what'd you think he was talkin' bout?" I asked her, she just rolled her eyes, then scribbled something in a little notebook she now had to carry with her, wherever she went:

"Apparently, the person is either disabled or deformed. Even Yakko wouldn't make fun of someone like that, though. He's probably too angry."

You'd think my first thought would be "Poor person!", but no, not really. I'm embarrassed to say this, but it just raised my curiosity even more… was it someone with one eye, or a burned up face? Did they look like a villain from a horror movie? I wanted to find out more, and I would…. I just hoped it really wasn't THAT scary…

You can laugh, but I still have nightmares about the lead female from that Prada movie… not that she's ugly, but… I swear, for some reason, I kept dreaming that she wanted to eat me in a pot of carrot soup…

The very next day, my investigation began. It was easy at first; all I had to do was look at the script credits, see whose name was listed with our cast next to Dot's. I found a female that went by "Paula Crawford" and it seemed so perfectly easy. All I had to do was ask some of the co-stars or co-workers on the show about her, the writers, the sound crew… I grinned, would I have a story to tell the guys later!

Unfortunately, it's never so easy. I asked, and asked, and asked, but no one knew anyone by that name. I changed my approach and asked for the person who's dubbing my sister; they were still unsure. I had to go straight to the voice director… he just brushed me off in a weird manner and said it wasn't even important. It took almost a day until I finally met someone who linked it all together…

"Oh, yes, Paula Crawford…" ironically, it was "The Mime" or, if you'd rather call him by his actual name, Mark Stevens "Of course I know who that is! … But no wonder no one answered you. She's barely known by her real name anymore; everyone calls her "Copycat". "

"Copycat?" I repeated, edging him to continue and he gladly did, brushing off a few locks of hair that stuck to his forehead:

"She lives here in Burbank, with her parents and little brother; he's only three. Her mother used to be an opera choir girl, so ever since Paula was little, they signed her up in a music academy, hoping she'd become a singer one day, too. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to go so well… so, she started working in a voice acting area instead."

"Oh?" that hardly seemed scary at all; if anything, it was really, really boring and I felt like I wasted my entire morning. Should've gone skateboarding instead.

"I know for a fact she CAN sing, just…well… she actually can't. You see, her actual voice… is pretty plain and dull, as well as her singing. All she can do is listen to someone speak, then mimic their sound and use it. She sang on behalf of a lot of other female toons who couldn't, I know for a fact Belle and Ariel's songs were done by her." He went on, a small smirk appearing on his face "They say she's working hard and her singing can have potential, however… a thousand times she asked for a job on TV, and they always turned her down. Saying she was the ugliest thing they ever saw and no camera would ever want her. I heard Plotz himself scream at her after even suggesting to appear on Animaniacs even once, in the background… called her a "gender confused, deformed, disfigured, hideous troll of a freak"… then gave her a plastic surgeon's number, but added that they probably didn't do miracles."

"…..she… really, she's that ugly?" this seemed intriguing. How would such a person look? I couldn't even picture it, so I went on "What does she look like?"

"Oh, hideous! Her nose is huge, her skin is yellow, she has these sick shadows and bags under her eyes… her legs are just crooked, hunchbacked, and that hair looks like a rag… yuck… some say one of her eyes is barely open, she can't walk the streets without being laughed at or ridiculed on a daily!" Mark finished off, huge grin on his face "Also, she limps a lot, one of her legs looks longer than the other… you don't know? Parents tell their kids she'll eat them at night if they don't finish their supper or skip school. Copycat – the real life Boogeyman."

"….wow!" even with that description, I still couldn't picture her "So… when you saw her, were you scared?"

"….saw her? I'm not going anywhere near that ugly freak. Nope, never seen her once in my life and am not planning to. I don't need therapy, nor can I afford it, with these lousy cameos I'm stuck doing." He added bitterly, while I scratched my head in a questioning manner:

"…. Then how do you know she looks like that?"

"Oh, lots of people HAVE seen her… they describe her pretty much the same way, plus, I told you, I heard what Plotz said, I was just outside. Shame, shame." Mark finished with a look that showed no shame from the matter at all.

"….so, do you know where she works, then? What part of the studio?" I asked, curiosity getting the best of me. If there really was someone that ugly in Burbank, I had to see it!

Mark gave me a look, mixture of surprise, shock and disgust:

"You really want to gouge your eyeballs after? Spare yourself the pain. No, I don't know and could care less… now if you excuse me; I'm late, still trying to audition for a spot at that "Ninja Turtles" show…"

He walked off, muttering something about "ugly bitches should just kill themselves", while I blinked after him, my curiosity now mixing with a tad of pity and sadness. That hardly seemed fair, `specially if he himself never saw her.

Still. If a monster was out lurking in Burbank, I wanted to see it. You know that feeling when you just KNOW something will terrify you to unknown debts, and yet, you just have to… like the temptation of staring into an eclipse. I was scared to look, but I just wanted to. And I would….

Shooting time was almost near, so I met up with my sibs and we both took off to the setting spot. Dot seemed weary, while Yakko was giving me a weird look, apparently, for some reason, he had a hunch what I've been up to so far. I managed to throw him off with requests of a huge pepperoni for dinner… while we argued about pizza toppings, we put aside the Copycat and her mimic of Dot's voice on hold, at least `till we would somehow figure out if four extra larges were too much, or if I'd just end up eating them all by myself.

"You're just gonna get very sick, four is way too much, even for a walking trash-dispenser like yourself." Yakko spoke, as we took our places on set, then turned to our sister "Back me up, Dot, you're a girl; tell him about proper diet and nice figures…"

"Hey!" I frowned, crossing my arms "I'm not fat, I'm the same size as both of you!"

"Just looking out for your health, little bro, how can you eat –"

"Hey, let the kid eat, if he can't finish them, you have some, you COULD use a pound or two." "Dot" or her rental voice spoke up from… well… I never could see where the sound equipment was exactly, but it sounded somewhere above us. Yakko jumped up and turned to our actual sister, who shook her head, almost seeming sad … I wanted to hug her then, she must've missed her voice so much… and she was being so strong and brave about it all, too!

"No one asked you and for your information… this isn't in the script, we haven't started yet, shut your trap, lady….if I can even call you that." The oldest of us spoke, looking up, apparently not sure where the sound was coming for. Copycat just laughed, worse, she laughed Dot's laugh, and that seemed to stir him up even more; however, before he could speak, she answered in a little mock:

"Is that any way to speak to your sister?"

"You are NOT my sister and trust me, if you were… you'd be living on the streets by now…" I was actually shocked; I never knew Yakko could be so mean. Unfortunately, that just made Copycat speak more:

"Tisk, tisk, how very, very rude… all I'm sayin', let the boy eat if he wants, or are you just being stingy?"

"First of all, stop using Dot's voice when you talk to me, second… she sounds nothing like that, she has perfect diction and pronunciation, she would never say "sayin'" like some mind-challenged redneck! And third-"

"Hey!" I cut in, feeling even more offended "I talk like that, too… well… sometimes… you're bein' horrible today, what'd voice lady do to you, anyway?" I mostly said that since I did want a lot of pizza for dinner and apparently, Copycat just wanted to annoy Yakko, which worked fine for me at the moment. She laughed, very, very loud, before adding:

"No, no, sweetie… you sound, I think…" we heard her clear her throat and speak up, once more "Like this, but `s ok… I always liked Ringo Star…. And John Lenon… I think your brother's bein' a tad racist today…rednecks don' talk like that, not all of `em!"

Dot's eyes grew wide, Yakko's face turned red, yet for some reason, all I could do was give out a huge laugh:

"Hey! Can you do more impressions! Oh, do Yakko next!"

"Oh you just try, you hideous goblin!" apparently, he wasn't sharing my amusement at all. Dot however seemed somewhat relieved; at least, she wasn't the only one whose voice was being imitated and used.

"Don't make me maaaaad…." Copycat returned to Dot's voice, sounding on the verge of another laughing fit herself "Or tonight I'll sneak in your tower and eat you in your sleep. Blaaaaaaaahhhh!" I had to look away, or else both my siblings would've screamed at/pummeled me…I can't help it if I found the sound of my sister as a vampire funny!

"Yeah, you'd love to eat me, wouldn't ya…" Yakko spoke up, but was rewarded with:

"Nah, you're too skinny, I'd still end up hungry; plus, I don't wanna choke on all that fur. I'd rather die with dignity and oh, I don't know, get smashed by a random huge anvil aiming for Plucky Duck. At least the young would be saved." She finished wisely, then laughed once more "Stop spewing such hatred; I was just playing around. You can't take a joke?"

"Your job is to just sit there and read lines, not butt into our lives and give me lessons about raising my siblings, understood? Oh, and while we're at it… not too crazy for the fact that you're making a cheap profit on my sis' name and voice, just because you're too ugly to get your own career, or a real job, for that matter!" at that point, I figured he had gone too far. Copycat did go silent for a little while, Dot was confused. She gave our parental figure a criticizing look; Dot might be a little bit shallow when it came to her own cuteness, but she was never mean to other people, unless they provoked any of us in some way. Mostly, she was probably wondering why he was picking on someone who she assumed was disfigured, that just didn't seem humane.

And you don't really know Yakko, but he has a lot of heart… this isn't that much like him. He never lashed out to hurt or hate on someone, much like Dot, unless they started it first. Apparently he was taking this whole "replacement" thing very at heart.

"….wow. You really don't like me, do you…?" Dot's voice double finally spoke up, seeming a bit… troubled? Darkened?

"Whatever gave you that idea, babe?" was the ironic response she got, and after another long, long awkward silence, Copycat answered:

"…I was just kidding. And I'm sorry, but I AM just doing my job." Her voice now seemed ice cold "I'm not gonna take this from some crooked, stretched up, Micky Mouse parody, since it's not my fault your sister lost her voice! It's not my fault they called me to do this and I will most certainly not turn down a chance to make some type of living for myself, just for the sake of keeping YOU happy…. You disrespectful, racist little hypocrite…."

"Hypocrite?"

"You make fun of people every day and you can't take one tiny joke, which wasn't even offensive to anyone? Wow. Grow up, faggot." With that, we heard a small crack, apparently the voice from above had left. Her absence didn't take long, though, since the director yelled out at all of us to get our acts together and do our goddamn jobs, while he still had any hair left to pull on.

Now I myself felt angry at her. I mean, I know Yakko crossed the line, but I couldn't just let her insult us both like that! …We looked alike, y'know, she had some nerve to call US crooked when she probably looked like a troll herself. Now, more than ever, I was gonna find her and put this all to an end once and for all. If I did see her and cleared things up, maybe no one would feel the need to yell at anyone and we'd just do our jobs, then part ways for good. `Sides, I was kinda curious if she actually could mimic Yakko's voice, too.

When our shooting was over, I told Yakko and Dot I'll go get some pizzas anyway; neither argued, since apparently, Yakko was too tired from work to object, or maybe he felt like he HAD gone a little too far… I can't tell. Dot seemed a little cheerful at the thoughts, since she was hungry too –we parted ways and I ran in an opposite direction, then snuck myself in the recording studio, by following some of the tech people inside. It took me a while to absorb my surroundings and find the recording studio; then, there were the several tiny rooms to choose from, where musicians and back-up singers walked in and out from, sipping coffee and chatting amongst themselves. I couldn't bring myself to ask either of them, I wasn't sure if they'd even let me stay … so I just searched room after room, wondering where she could be. Did she have one all for herself? Probably, if she really was so hard on the eyes, but were the people who worked here that bothered? Maybe… `least it was a benefit of being ugly, she got to have all the space she wanted and probably did anything she pleased, with no one looking, like have fun with all the crazy buttons. If it were me, I'd make the entire show a huge mess and just laugh all day… but I had a feeling Copycat didn't see things in such a positive light.

Room after room, a few girls screamed as I entered (one was a dressing room, a few weren't, but I guess they were cooing from joy), there were lots of "Sorry!" and "Hellooooo nurses!" from my half, until finally, I reached one door, with the number "205" on it, which seemed strangely quiet. Shrugging my shoulders and hoping it'd be another female undressing, I entered, only to find it pitch dark… yet, someone… no, something was there, in the corner…

Crouching, and in that dim light, the features and shadows around made it seem so sharp, I actually gasped. The reaction was mutual, as the person gasped too and jumped on their feet, completely freezing up afterwards, as if someone had pointed a gun to her chest. I trembled a bit and reached for the lights, trying to prepare myself for the horrifying sight and hoping I wouldn't scream… but as I hit them, all I could do was just blink, before giving out a "…huh?".

I was expecting a monster, a hideous being… some sort of abnormality, anything, really. Instead, all I saw was a tiny, thin, pale little girl…well… not technically little…she looked about seventeen, or eighteen, I couldn't tell, but…

There she was, so small, so white…at first I couldn't exactly judge her looks much, but she was far from "ugly" or at least the far-fetched hideousness everyone kept talking about. Her skin was so pale, you could see every vein in her body, yet for some reason, it struck me as… soft, reminding of snow. She was slouching, as if trying to hide completely, but there was no sign of a hump, either… although really, really bad posture.

Her body seemed nice, though; like I said before, she was thin, her breasts were small, her hips slightly curvy and her legs seemed firm and long. I couldn't even see her face, since her hair covered most of it …at first I thought it was pitch black, but it took me a while to notice she had multiple colored highlights; purple, blue and bright pink. She kept fiddling her fingers and it was pretty sure she wanted to run away…but couldn't dare even move an inch. After inhaling for a bit, she looked up at me –for a very brief moment –and I could see her face.

What stuck out most about it were her eyes and lips; beautiful, unfortunately, she had taken it upon herself to ruin them completely. Her lips were cute and curly, if a tad tiny, but on the edge of her bottom one she had a wavy piercing which didn't look good on them at all; as for her eyes, they were no interesting color, but seemed deep, the same shape and color of chestnuts. They had a lot of dark make-up around them, and badly applied, the eyeliner was smeared and the eye shadow was just too much; she looked like someone had given her two black eyes. However, as she lift her gaze to meet mine, it did strike me –she WAS pretty –sure, no supermodel, no pageant winner, no Hello Nurse or Jessica Rabbit ….but she had really nice features. Her nose was roman; it looked kinda delicate, even a tad cute.

While I came to the conclusion that she was attractive, she just screamed and ran off. I tried to stop her, but she pushed me away, seeming completely terrified of my very existence.

I didn' understand then. I was sure most people who spread those rumors about her didn't actually see her –or, they did and just repeated how ugly she was, since so many companies told her so –but far-fetched was putting it gently. Maybe some could say she was plain, or even unattractive (hey, to each their own!), but she looked like every other girl I've ever seen. What was the big deal?

I decided she thought Yakko sent me, or I came on my own, to scream at her about Dot, so I decided to follow. She had taken a stop at a nearby corridor, out of breath, while I made a grand Warner entrance –I popped up from a nearby wardrobe drawer and waved:

"Hello!"

She jumped up and screamed again; this time, I didn't blame `er. It must be scary if someone just jumped out of nowhere, behind you. I remember I used to be terrified of that "Jack in the box" toy when I was a bit younger. That thing was just so creepy! Who'd want a scary looking clown to just sprint up in your face, while you're playing with a box's handle?

Gulping slightly and trying to catch her breath, Copycat looked like she was about to make another run. To avoid playing hide and seek all day, I hurried to add:

"I'm Wakko! I didn' mean to scare ya… just, well… it was…we kinda work together, so I thought… I can't work with someone if I don' even know `em!"

The girl seemed to relax at this, and, taking another deep breath, she tried to smile and replied in a slight stutter:

"H-hello there!"

She did have a normal girl's voice, nothing too fancy. It actually sounded a tad childish, which again made me ponder on how old she really was. Could she actually be thirteen? But kids that young can't be voice-acting, and they did say she was dubbing Disney characters for a while, now…

She looked a lot older than that, though. Maybe it was the hair?

I managed to take an even closer look at her so I could conclude that she was in fact pretty. I couldn't really see why anyone would think otherwise, so I pondered if I had gotten the wrong person:

"I'm looking for Paula Crawford… uhm… I'm terribly sorry, I guess that's not you. Could you tell me where she is?"

The girl gave me an odd look, blinked several times, before managing to gain the courage to actually raise her head a little higher and make an effort to joke:

"You don't recognize your own little sister? We had such wonderful, eh… three or four days together! I'm hurt, kiddo."

"So….it's you?" I tilt my head to the side, maybe she had a huge mole somewhere on her chin or a burn scar somewhere I didn't notice before.

"You were expecting, I guess … the Wicked witch from the West?" in a matter of minutes, her entire attitude changed. She stood up a little taller and straighter and actually showed something that resembled… cockiness? Pose? I wasn't sure how to put it, but at a point it seemed like she was trying to mock me.

"I'm… sorry, I just thou-"

"You just heard the tale of the ugly, ugly beast of Burbank and wanted to see for yourself. Or was it a dare from a friend? Or, I know! Something sooo hideous you just HAD to look, right?" her ironic smile turned wider, her arms spread loose around her hips and her voice turned ice cold and bitter.

I didn't know what to say to that, since she was absolutely right; I had no clue how to say I didn't find her ugly, without making it seem like I was lying to be polite, either. I decided to ignore her words and keep being nice, hoping things would turn out well:

"Hey! I really liked your Dot scream today. I'm no expert, you could use some work, but… I think it was nice. Can you do other voices, too?" I asked sincerely and curiously, hoping she wouldn't take my ignorance the wrong way. Apparently, she did.

"Well, you saw me! And you're alive, wow, good for you! Feast! Make fun, tell your friends, heyyy! Want me to pose so you can, I dunno, take a picture? I can make a gremlin face, too." Paula's smile disappeared, now she seemed purely bitter "Let me tell you something, handsome. I may be ugly as shit, but I make ten times more than you or your little siblings do for a year, I work hard, I study, I try, and I'll surpass you, even if I never make the cover of "Vogue". You, you little pipsqueak can gawk and make fun all you want, I could care less… I'm gonna have fun with your little sister's voice, just for that, and you-"

"But I am not!" I jumped up, now raising my own voice "I really was curious and did wanna meet you! That doesn't mean I'm doing something wrong, I'm being nice-"

"Right. Whatever." Copycat threw her hair back and walked pass me, while I just gaped:

"….that was…HEY!" I rushed after her "Don't talk about us that way! You think you're so high and mighty, huh?"

"As a matter of fact, maybe I do." She said, resembling very much a stuck-up primadona, than the scared, whimpering little thing from before.

"`S that why you were too scared to even show me your face, cause you're sooo much better?" I argued "You might think that just because-"

"You little… don't you even… you have no shame, do you?"

"I never said you were ugly, did I?"

"Patronizing me isn't better, don't think I don't know pity when I see-"I jumped in front of her and cut her off, feeling extremely mad:

"I never said it! People kept sayin' things, and yeah, maybe, I wanted to see if that was even possible! Doesn' mean I agree right now, and I'm not patronizing! You're horrible, stuck-up, egotistical…I had hopes you'd be fun! I wanted to make things better, my brother was right about you… you might look pretty on the outside, but beneath that you're just an ugly freak!"

Once more she stopped dead in her tracks, a shadow casting over her, her eyes growing larger and her skin did, in fact, turn yellow, she had a look like she was about to faint, or at least cry. At the moment, I could care less:

"And by the way, I hate your lip-ring! It looks like someone's taking a huge bite on your mouth!" with that, I turned away, fuming and thinking… had she not been a girl, I would've been very much tempted to smack her with my mallet.

She wasn't ugly; she was egotistical and a narcissist, she probably knew she looked nice all along and was making fun of us, or had grown bitter after being turned down from TV…I guess, in comparison to girls like Jessica Rabbit and Hello Nurse she'd look, well…pretty plain, but…when I thought about it, she hardly resembled a monster under your bed….more like a miss-colored fairy…or a tinier version of Snow White with very ugly make-up.

I thought I heard a whimper, then heels turning and the sound of cheap sneakers rushing away, but before I could look back, she was gone from sight, leaving me, utterly confused. I had no clue what was going on, all I knew was… she was NOT a nice person, and mean people didn't deserve to be treated good, so I wasn't even gonna bother anymore, let people talk and do whatever they want.

As I walked home that night, filled with mixed emotions, some anger, some confusion, and even a little…sad, that things turned out so nasty, I couldn't help but wonder…

…did I do something wrong after all?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I apologize I didn't make this very clear (not sure if more than one person is even reading this, however, let me just explain so there would be no confusion). I'm a part of a group online, which started a contest, a challenging one in fact, about who can write the best OC/Canon Lead romance fanfic. I haven't written OCs in a while – mostly, I write very little fanfiction, at it's usually oneshots, but I can't deny a good challenge **** I really do want to win, so I'll try as hard as I can. And thanks to my kind reviewer for the encouraging words; I'm trying to win, so I'm not aiming for feedback, but I do need it, if I want to figure out what to work on and have a better chance. There are some really good writers out there, it's a tough competition! **

**But whether you are willing to give it or not, it is up to you. I hope you enjoy reading anyway, and I promise, no more author's notes from me, unless you're anonymous and I cannot reply to you any other way. With that said, thank you for your time!**

Chapter two:

"Hey Wakko? You alright, sib?"

That came from my brother, for the 15th time ever since I came back home that evening, with only two pizzas after all. After my encounter with … what should I call `er? Copycat? Paula? How about big yucky jerk? I guess BYJ just doesn't work, so … I'll think of some way to nickname her, `least in my own head.

"….sure." I replied, my answer matching the times the questions were asked, fiddling with my pizza. It WAS pretty yummy… they were outta pepperoni, but they threw in extra cheese, just to be nice ….

I guess, sometimes people do nice things for no reason what-so-ever. Of course, Miss Uselessly Dull prolly didn't have "nice" in her English dictionary… hey, that don' sound too bad… I could just call her MUD.

Servers her right. She treats people like mud, when she's nothing special herself …

'Course, no good would come if it only stayed in my head; but I didn't feel like sharing with everyone that I went out of my way to look up some random voice replacement …I was sure Yakko would get mad and maybe, so would Dot; she'd feel betrayed, since she found her own voice a lot better… and I agreed, not just because I felt mad or anything… MUD was … alright, but my sister had a very, very pleasant voice…. And she sings so nice, too!

"…you've been chewing that same bite for almost five minutes now. While that might be good for digestion, ahhhhh …. Something's wrong, right, buddy?" Yakko didn't give up and Dot looked up from her plate, sharing his concern and throwing me a worried look. I waved it off; it was sweet that they cared … but I wasn't really sure how to explain what happened, anyway. I didn't really get it myself…

"`S nothin' …" I muttered, after finally swallowing said bite "I, uh… was thinkin', is all…"

Dot scribbled something quickly and lift it up, for all to read:

"That never ends well."

"Very funny! Do you wanna know what's wrong or not?" I frowned, crossing my arms, while Yakko interjected:

"Of course. Spill your heart out, bro; we're all ears… girl trouble?"

Girl trouble? Girl trouble? Why'd he have to go around and assume all that, now? Just `cause he's the proclaimed "womanizer", doesn't mean girls don't like me, too!

Plus, does it always have to be girls with him?

As usual, I kept most of my rant in my head and just replied:

"….I don' think I like the voice lady…she really doesn't sound like Dot at all, and… she's just … look how mean she was to you guys today!"

My siblings exchanged looks and Yakko spoke up, to save Dot from more scribbling:

"Really? I thought you found her little ….what's the word…." He avoided swearing around us, so it did take him a while "…disrespectful and rude actions today amusing. Do tell, what changed your mind, Wak?"

I guess that was an alright way to replace "bitchiness". Still, I tend to avoid such a language myself; Yakko always said it was a sign of bad manners, and Dot was present, it's not really for a cute lady's sweet ears.

"I wanted to make this work, to make Dot feel better, but… I don' like it anymore, I want my sister and HER voice, not just some… double." I went on, not entirely lying. I would much rather hear my sister speak, it pained me to see her suffer like that … and she clearly was, Dot always loved to sing, she loved to smile and joke … now the last mentioned took a while, since she couldn't scribble THAT fast ….

"So! You were right …." I went on, avoiding Dot's mixed gaze; she seemed flattered, but also, disbelieving. Yakko, I was sure, wasn't really buying my sudden change of heart for a bit, but kept his thoughts to himself, after I added "Now I wanna quit, too! Let's tell `em we'll all wait `till Dot gets better… and the…" I cringed "…she can find some other job. It's just unfair!"

"That's the spirit!" Yakko grinned, even if he was still disbelieving, but suddenly got a hold of himself "…wait, you… Wakko, something happened, right? Did someone say something hurtful about either of us? Did you meet up with a toon hater? Come on, buddy, you honestly expect me to believe –"

"I just don' like her! Can't I support my sister, too?" I argued and decided to say nothing more on the subject. The rest of the evening went on with the three of us questioning on whether or not to actually quit… until, finally, Yakko came to a reasonable and I have to say, genius solution:

"We don't have to quit… we can always make HER quit…"

Dot blinked at this, while I took it upon myself to ask for the both of us:

"…how? She wouldn' do it if she didn' need the money…"

"You surprise me, dear siblings! We're the Warner Brothers –"

Dot threw a paper ball at him, which he dodged, and wisely added:

"–and sister, annoying people and making them wish they never met us is what we're best at!"

I pondered for a moment, while Dot's eyes lit up. As she began writing something down, for some reason, I felt hesitation, even after my own bitter words:

"Isn't that a bit harsh, though?"

"Harsher than US going jobless for maybe weeks? I don't mean to scare you, Dot… you ARE getting better by day, but until you're 100%, it could take a while…" Yakko turned to our sister, who handed him her note:

"You're the smartest person I know! But I doubt I can be much help, in my condition …and, also… is it really… if she's disabled, won't that be horribly mean?"

"For a disabled person, she runs her mouth way too much." Our parental figured input, while Dot gave him her answer, a lot faster this time:

"Look who's talking…."

"All I'm saying is, enough is enough. She can go sing at Disney, apparently, if they're so willing to have her voice. She made a mockery out of you today, Dot AND insulted us all. I think that's as much as we should take. If she wanted respect, she should learn to give it, first…" our smarty brother went on, while I, before thinking it over completely, blurted out, still unsure why:

"Y'know, you kinda started it…"

Yakko turned to me, confused, and I realized that I was contradicting myself very much the entire evening. I instantly forced myself to remember how badly she treated me and all the cocky words she spoke about surpassing us, so I turned bitter once more:

"Never mind! I'm with you guys, let's go for it!"

"Alright then! Let's start pitching ideas… what could we possibly do to scare the big bad Burbank monster out of our lives for good?" Yakko pondered, while I, once more, remembered MUD person, and her, still attractive face… I did feel like describing her to Yakko, but once more I had to ask myself, why defend her? Technically, she was a monster …alright, maybe not THAT much of a jerk, but… I kept my mouth shut and we spend the night pondering on what to do. It'd be pretty hard to pick on someone, if they were just a borrowed voice.

No, I wasn't gonna let them actually meet her… again, not sure why, but I felt almost… ashamed that I myself looked her up and would do anything but admit it. I guess pride was stopping me, although technically, it wasn't something to be ashamed of, or a bad deed… I just didn't wanna admit it, maybe the angry part of me wanted my brother to keep calling her awful names …if he saw her, he probably still would, but he'd tone it down… like I said before, she was hardly anything hideous.

The next morning, me and Dot went out for breakfast and a walk, while Yakko –surprise, surprise- had an early date with a really cute redhead, which he assured "Would cancel, bro, but if you could just see those lovely, round, big, perfectly shaped….eyes!" We both rolled our eyes at this and let him know it was fine; we didn't always have to travel in a pack of three, we were allowed to have personal lives as well. Still feeling a tad guilty, he promised to come meet up with us after a little bit, in case "the girl wanted a tower tour, then maybe it'd take a little longer". Again, we knew he was kidding… or being hopeful … and while I tried to repress a second eye-roll, Dot advised him to make sure his belt was tightly strapped around his pants this time. I really don't wanna mention one very disastrous date of his that happened not a long enough time ago and ended with him coming back home with a big red print on his face.

So, as Yakko left, to pursue his newest crush, me and Dot walked over to a nearby café and ordered some nice breakfast –she was looking out for what she ate, on account of her bad throat, and I was trying to be respectful and not eat anything she couldn't. Eggs with bacon did just fine, I just ordered a whole bunch of `em.

Conversation was hard, but I kept Dot smiling my making goofy faces, sculpturing stuff with food or drawing on her eggs with ketchup. Sometimes, she'd call my actions "immature", but now she really seemed to appreciate it. When someone's down, they start noticing the little things a lot more, `least, so I've heard. Also, when you're miserable yourself, you become more compassionate and helpful than you'd usually be. That's why some people think us, attractive ones (hey, I'm just bein' fair, I don' mean to rub it in… self-esteem is not a crime!) would usually be horrible, nasty people; on the contrary. I always try my hardest to be nice, unless someone really ticks me off or I'm in a bad mood. Or just don' like `em.

"But I had the money, right here!" I overheard someone argue from a nearby table and recognized him; it was another extra from our show, a little redhead kid who liked to tell weird stories sometimes, like about women eating pillows in their sleep… he seemed very troubled, and turning his jeans' pockets inside out, noticed a huge hole in the left one "…they must've fallen out, somewhere. Can't I just pay next time?" he pleaded, but the waitress seemed far from sympathetic:

"I can see Berta'll be getting a lot of help washing dishes today…"

"Oh man!" the little boy frowned, then attempted to plea again "But maybe my mom can come by later and –"

"In the kitchen, kiddo." He got cut off immediately, apparently, the lady had worked here for a while and had experience with people cheating their way for a free meal. I pondered on whether I should do something about it –then I noticed someone else had approached them and tapped the café worker on the shoulder lightly:

"Just put it on me. I'll pay. I'm sure it was just a mistake…"

The waitress gave her a weird look, and as I observed, I finally recognized her –MUD- or… eh… whatever I decide to call her later, but yep. My sister's voice double was apparently out for breakfast herself.

"Well…. As long as SOMEONE is paying." The waitress gave in, and Copycat nod her head. The little redhead kid looked up at her, muttered something, then rushed past them both, without so much as a "thank you". While leaving, he turned around several times, looking at Paula like she was some sort of alien, but he wasn't the only one. As the dub-actress took her seat, I could hear a few whispers from here and there –most of them, pretty nasty ones:

"Wow, what an ugly girl…"

"You SURE that's a girl?"

"Who is she, anyway? Haven't seen her around, at all…"

"If I had a face like that, I'd hide a lot, too…"

"Oh, she's not that bad. I'd do her, I'm kinda on a dry season…."

"I think she's cute. Wonder if it's too early for a drink?"

Most of these confused me; maybe I didn't hear right? Why were they making such a fuss over her looks, or were they even talking about her? I wasn't sure, I couldn't see her that well from our distance, maybe she was having an even worse make-up day?

Weird… was what I thought, and nothing more. She slumped behind a menu and hid herself completely, but I could notice her hands trembling, knuckles turned yellow and sharp. I hadn't realized yesterday, she had really pretty hands…very delicate, small ones…apparently, people around disagreed, since a few other comments were made, but eventually, Paula was left alone. Still in a puzzle, I ignored everything and turned my attention back to my sister, who was currently trying to order more orange juice; I had to apologize for being absent-minded and not doing it for her.

"….just dazing off, making plans for today. Y'know, after shooting, we should check out the new theme park and crash all the rides! I hear they have faboo water slides, you'll just love `em –"

"Would you please step off, I said "no"." again I had to shift my attention from my little sister, for which I now apologize, if she ever gets to see this. I recognized this cast member immediately –it was Hello Nurse, or Rose, if you'd prefer her real name, though people rarely used it. Some guy was being a little too friendly, which was normal, since our Nurse was very beautiful –however, hardly appropriate, and too forward, it was just disrespectful, if you ask me.

"Oh, come on, baby, maybe just a quick one? You know, an angel like you deserves to dine in a much, much better place than this… whaddaya say, I take you out somewhere REALLY nice…pretty girls like you should have pleasant company." The suitor insisted, while Hello Nurse stood her ground:

"Thank you, but I would hardly call you "pleasant". If you would…"

"Sweetie, you're just too cute, playing hard to get…" he brushed a hand lightly on her waist, but, once more, interruption occurred –and I was just about to rush over there. I really wanted to show off, the Nurse is really pretty!

"I think the lady would prefer if you just left." Yep, you guessed it, same as before, taking the role of a "knight in shining armor", Copycat had beat me to it yet again and was giving the cocky male one of her coldest glares.

He just snorted and threw her an unimpressed look:

"Beat it, you ugly bitch, trying to talk to the pretty lady here…"

"I don't think she likes that." Paula shrugged, still remaining stern and, seeming, unbothered. However I did notice that her whole body trembled for a second when he referred to her as "ugly".

"What're you, a lesbian or something? Fat chance hitting someone like that-"before he could continue, the Nurse took matters into her own hands and swung him around, then slapped him hard across the face:

"I suggest you leave; I wouldn't like to file for harassment."

"What, a guy can't ask a girl out anymore?" he seemed very angered, and this time, I rose up to my feet. Since it was very noisy, and they weren't causing that big of a commotion, not a lot of people noticed them. However, the Nurse just reached for her purse, took out a tiny can and sprayed something in his eyes, I assume pepper spray?

Remaining calm, she called one of the waitresses over, who escorted the "gentleman" outside. Paula blinked at the whole situation, before turning to our fandom's beauty and, for some reason, feeling the need to blurt out a:

"I'm sorry…."

The Nurse had a look that showed that she didn't fully understand what the other girl was apologizing for, but added politely:

"It happens to me often. I always carry some sort of protection with me; a girl can never be too careful. There are a lot of strange men out there…"

"….yeah, true that." Copycat agreed, avoiding contact. Once more, she gave out the feeling of wanting to run away, but apparently, not gathering the strength to. Hello Nurse eyed her carefully, adding:

"Are you alright? You don't look so good…you should sit down, have some water…"

"N-no, that's…ok. Really. Fine, perfectly fine." Her brunette companion assured, finally meeting her eyes and a few red spots hit her neck and cheeks; she seemed almost…embarrassed to be anywhere near Rose, her eyes had a certain flair of envy in them, as she looked at the blonde's lovely features. However, she didn't seem spiteful about it, just very, very ashamed…I assume, of herself. Taking huge steps backwards, actually limping a bit in the process and stumbling a few times, almost falling over, she rushed away, to a very far off table, tripping on the way, before finally managing to hide in another seat again. A few people laughed, some didn't notice her at all, others would whisper:

"Bet she feels like shit compared to the Nurse…"

"She must be jealous, that disgusting, ugly thing…"

"….kinda pretty, but man, what a klutz. Who'd hang out with such a dork?"

All the mixed comments were leaving me even more confused; I glanced over at Paula, then at my sister, who hadn't even noticed her. She was too busy with her eggs and, like I said, the scene from before wasn't exactly that loud. I could still see Copycat from where I was sitting, though –she was bright red, apparently hearing each and every single comment and I felt a tad saddened, then questioned my own sight and sanity. Was I the only one, apart from two or three deprived males who honestly found her pretty?

Right now, she was red from head to toe, seeming like she was about to choke on just the air around her. I wanted to walk over and talk to her, but was sure she'd just snap at me again –I dunno why, I guess she just didn't like me –and I was actually surprised. After last night, I thought she was a bitter, awful person…and this morning, she helped out people, even if she didn't manage to do much to the guy who was bothering the Nurse…at least, she tried to. Guess that counts, right?

Before I could ponder on whether or not to try and talk to her, a man approached her table and from what I understood, questioned if she was "willing" for a dollar and a few cents. Not sure what exactly he meant by that, but apparently, that just drew the line for her and she stormed off, not before kicking the guy in his left knee and adding the said dollar to her tab money, the one she left on the table to pay for her meal …which, I think, she didn't even touch.

I wanted to follow, now I did feel bad. Maybe she wasn't such a bad person after all? But Dot wanted to go ice-skating and as we left, Copycat was far from sight. I tried to put it all out of my mind –after a while, I succeeded. At the skating ring, we met up with a couple of fans and had tons of fun, so it was easy to forget the weird events at the diner. By the time we left, we were already late to be on set and we found Yakko there, waiting for us, seeming a tad worried, but also happy, for his own reasons.

"Hey sibs! Sorry I missed ya, I went to the diner, but I couldn't even find you guys, I guess you already left…"

"So, how was your date?" I went straight to the point, since the memories of today's morning suddenly came rushing back to my head and made me feel very uncomfortable; I wanted to erase them from my head again.

"She was, ahhhhh …sweet, I guess, but not my type, after all." Our brother dismissed, though still wearing a huge grin on his face. Dot raised a finger so we could wait for her writing input:

"…she has a pretty sister, doesn't she?"

"Hottest girl alive. Man, and I can actually woe her… she seemed to like me, a lot." Dot frowned at him and crossed her arms, while I pondered:

"….does that mean the girl you went out with today is free?"

Our sister threw us both angered, disgusted looks, before harshly scribbling down two words:

"Boys. Pigs!"

We decided to take that. Girls just don't understand.

"Alright, you guys, let's start the 8th scene, from the top…" the director asked somewhat calmly, while Yakko interjected:

"Ahhh, not so sure about that one. Maybe a few script changes are in order. I'm just not feeling that…ah, how can I put this, some of these tunes on here …not sure if they're up to my sister's "voice", just yet… maybe something a little… cheaper, more… plain? I know, I know, it's hard to believe Dot can be THAT boring, but hey, we work with what we can, she can make up with her cute face and me and my bro here, we'll think of something for laughs…"

"Stick to the script, Yakko, I'm sure we'll do great-"

"What's this?" Dot had handed a note to Yakko, who gladly read it out loud "Oh, my sister wants to say… she hates the fact that you're making her sound like a choking old woman. She agrees we skip the tunes, and-"

"Fine, no singing from Dot. Can we start shooting, since –"

"Oh, and also…" Yakko was looking at me weird, apparently wondering why I wasn't joining in "Her accent is horrible, and she stutters, have you noticed? Honestly, she was your last pick, wasn't she? Or is she just a charity case, since it's either a few bucks from you guys, or ending up hungry, homeless and rotting in a gutter?"

"Look, I'm sure the voice director is more than capable of deciding…"

"Not that anyone would THINK she wouldn't end there… to be honest, she'd feel right at home, with all those bums and homeless people and junkies…I doubt they're that judgmental over ugly freaks, I mean, she might even make a friend or…miracles can happen, score a date!" my brother went on, smirking at the sky above, thinking Copycat could see him. For some reason, she remained silent and didn't bother to reply; maybe she had taken his advice to just stick to her lines and say nothing more. However, my male sibling went on:

"Oh, by the way, mini-Quasimodo…we have a little gift for ya. I asked around, found out WHERE you work…gladly, didn't see you there, I'd hate to splat acid over my eyes, but… hope you liked your welcoming present… don't worry, I'm sure some of that pink paint will come off…though, from what I hear, you could use some color on that skin…did you managed to take a seat, next? Then you probably have a huge headache too, I think the springs were a liiiiittle too tight, there…oh and those notes…well, just a reminder of how much we love yo-"

Crack. A very loud, painful crack, then squeal, as something heavy was heard crashing around us. We actually had to look around and check, see if a rival toon wasn't attacking…much to our surprise, in a matter of minutes, a voice, from somewhere around us, not above this time, screeched trough the speakers:

"You wanna say all that to my face?"

"Oh, please, don't!" Yakko placed a hand on his forehead theatrically "Think of the children you'll frighten, please, stay put in there!" a bitter laugh was heard, as well as a mocking sing-song line:

"Big baloney boy doesn't want me down, eh? Ooooh, are you scared? Are you scared, you poor wittle baby? You scared I'll snap you in half like the toothpick you are?"

"Lady, the only thing that scares me is your hideous face, so, please-"

"A likely excuse. Poor wittle Warner boy…ooooh, the big bad monster's gonna getcha! Beat you to a bloody pulp and spit on your twitching remains, you little dipshit!" Copycat spewed with what appeared to be amusement, while Yakko turned to me:

"Wak, you're supposed to be helping. Say something, already!"

"….I don' think this'll end good, Yakko. Let's just do our job…" I backed down, while my brother blinked at me:

"We have mallets and anvils! What can that little-"

"Hello."

We all turned around, and there she was. Paula Crawford, standing tall, arms crossed, eyes darkened and chilling, hair swinging freely around her face. In the sun, her highlights glistered and stood out a lot more than they did last night; she still had that gross lip-ring on, but apparently, no time for make-up…except for a little eyeliner, but I had a hunch that certain circumstances today had smeared it even more and caused her to clean her face. The more I looked at her, the prettier she seemed and I couldn't understand why a couple of by-passers stared at her, some pointed, some laughed, few spoke to each other, calling her "weirdo" and "hideous, disgusting"…Dot had crossed her arms, with a look that said "I'm cuter", but she couldn't hide her surprise…while Yakko, he was taken aback. Much like me, he probably expected a Frankenstein monster –instead, he got a pretty girl, despite the fact that people around apparently had some sort of problem with her.

"Speechless? Now isn't that out of character." Copycat was eying him sternly and she almost seemed scary –though appearing completely calm, she had an eerie vibe around her. I wasn't sure what Yakko meant by "pink coming off", apparently some type of paint bomb, but nothing on her was pink –except for before mentioned streaks in her hair.

Finally, my brother overcame his surprise and did her justice:

"Wow, you have a great face… for radio. Seriously, were you raised under a bridge?"

Her expression remained blank and hollow, as a small yawn escaped her lips:

"Whatever happened to your wit and oh so clever, hurtful, sarcastic humor? Please, like I haven't heard THOSE lines before. Anything else you wanna throw at me? We get it; I'm ugly, change the page, shorty."

"Oh, that hurt right in the blind spot. Coming from someone who's probably 5 feet tall herself, but of course, you can always try heels… might even up your legs and posture a bit…" our family talker went on, but Paula, again, didn't seem impressed:

"My legs are perfectly even, thank you. But that's not changing the page, still aiming for appearance. What, that's all you got on me? Maybe, I don't know, it's because you don't even know me, so all you can do is spew out how bad I look, over and over again?"

Yakko opened his mouth to argue, but she turned her back on him and eyed me next, her features softening a bit:

"Kid…I didn't come here to match wit with your brother, he can win, I don't care…I actually wanted to apologize for being so rude yesterday. I thought about it, and…you didn't really do anything wrong. Of course, if it were me, I'd wanna check out the beast, too…I was still completely out of line, disrespectful, unfair…I said things I didn't even mean, and coming from me, they were laughable, you're all huge stars already and you'll be hitting it big in no time. Please, I'm sure you forgot about it, but in case I made you mad, don't waste time over stupid bullshit some nobody said to you…I'm not worth it, at all. I truly am very, very sorry…also, for using your sister's voice. I never wanted to make it seem like I'm getting paid for her hard work. I hope…" she turned to Dot for a brief moment "…you get better really, really soon. I've had a tonsil taken out –just one, but –I know how awful you must feel, so …sorry." With that, she walked away, not even giving me a chance to respond. I wasn't sure what exactly to say to all that, but the director filled my silence with an angered yell:

"You! Voice double! Get back here, we have a scene to shoot!"

"Fuck off, you little piece of shit." Was all she said, before rushing ahead, hair waving behind her like a flag. Yakko was the first to break the silence:

"….well…I guess that means…she quit?" he didn't sound very pleased however, in fact, very much ashamed. Dot seemed somewhat uncomfortable, too. She shrugged her shoulders, not exactly sure how to respond to all of this. Not bothering with anyone, this time, I ran after Paula, even with both Yakko and the director yelling after me to come back and leave it all alone.

I couldn't keep up with `er, but from afar, I saw the house she entered and assumed it was her home. Once I reached there, I hesitated on ringing the doorbell; instead, I took a peek from the window, after I heard a few choked out, loud sobs:

"Honey! Honey, what is it?" I noticed a lady with curly black hair entering the, I think, living room? She rushed over to the little purple and black pile on the floor, which was her daughter "Paula? Paula, sweetie….!"

"It's just too much! Mom, what's wrong with me?" I really hadn't expected her to be like this. At some points, she seemed like the nastiest person ever, at others –scared and weak, sometimes even nice…now she was a crying mess, being cradled in her mother's arms:

"Everywhere I go, all I hear is "ugly, ugly, ugly"…all the jobs I wanted to have, all the dreams you wanted for me, I wanted to sing, I wanted to be on TV…why was I born so hideous? Why am I such a freak?"

"But…sweetie, you're beautiful! Look at you, you're so pretty, how can you…" I could see the mother's heart instantly broke, when her child spoke up once more:

"They all laugh and taunt and mock…how can I keep this up? I try so hard, I can never do anything right! They all hate me, you should've seen…all those things those kids did, just because they wanted me gone, and I didn't…it's just unfair, you should've seen, all those things, on the walls, and…"

"No, don't you listen to them, Paula! Those people…they're crazy, or horrible, they're only trying to hurt you! Please, baby, calm down…" the mother seemed almost in shock of what to do, while her child went on:

"I might as well quit, if that's what they want! I don't…I don't ever wanna go outside, I wish I could just lock myself up somewhere forever!"

"Baby…"

"Paula!" a male rushed over to the two, it was probably her dad "What happened, what did those monsters do to you now?"

"Dad, I just…" Paula raised her face up, almost embarrassed "Dad, I'm sorry, I'm just no good, I'm no good…! It's not their fault, I just-"

"That does it, whatever anyone did, I have half the mind to call authorities, they have no right, they were the ones who asked, I didn't… I told you not to do this! My girl shouldn't be treated like this, why, I swear…" his face was red, and he seemed like he was about to cry himself. The older woman turned to her husband with worry:

"Now Michael, remember, your blood-pressure…"

"I'm just…dad, I just don't fit in, I…" Paula now felt really uncomfortable and embarrassed, but couldn't seem to stop "I'm sorry, I'm a failure, I'm sorry you never had that pretty little girl you always wanted…"

"Honey, you ARE pretty…" her mother tried once more, while the dad, Michael, went to his knees and pulled her in his arms gently, speaking in a stern voice:

"I'd rather my daughter be appreciated for her mind, soul and strength, rather than be ogled at for beauty and nothing more…I'm proud of my child, she's a kind, good soul, intelligent and she needs to be strong, she has to be brave! You're my daughter and my children are strong! My little girl will always be pretty, even if the entire world came knocking on my door just to announce the opposite…"

"Dad…Dad, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, so vain and shallow…please, please just calm down…" Paula had noticed that the man was trembling and she squeezed him tight "It's nothing, dad, I was over-reacting! Nothing at all! I'm just a stupid little girl after all…It's fine, dad, I'll do it! I'll fight and work hard and someday…I'll do good, I'll, I'll…I'll sing, or maybe…maybe I'll have a whole set of toons, voiced just by me, not be the voice behind those beautiful women, who can't reach high notes…" I could tell she didn't believe a word she just spoke, but her father inhaled deeply, and, seeing her brush her tears off and smile, made him relax as well:

"As long as I'm alive, you'll always be safe. You'll never need to fear the world, your mother and I love you…you're healthy, you have a home, and you're young, fifteen years old, no matter what you're going trough right now…your life will change and one day, whatever path you take, be it a waitress or the biggest star, you'll be the best…think of your sweet soul, nothing in this world is worth more than a kind heart…"

"I know, dad. I know." Paula agreed, then kissed both her parents on the cheeks, rubbing her face furiously "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I got you both so worried…I'll…I'll go for a walk, some air will do me good, I'll be back before you know it!"

"Of course, sweetie." Her mother nodded, fixing her daughter's hair lovingly "A walk sounds just perfect…you were just stressed, that's all."

"Of course." Paula repeated, and at that point, I jumped in a nearby bush, but immediately regret it. It was a rose bush, and several thorns stuck to my skin; still, I covered my mouth with both hands and kept put, as I watched Copycat leave, then head off to an unknown destination.

Again, it took me a while, but once more, I was gonna follow. And this time, set things right…because now I saw, strong and bitter on the surface…she was just a scared little child after all, and I had forgotten…she WAS someone's child, someone's daughter, and felt deep shame for the nasty things I had thought about her myself. If someone were to treat my sister that way, I'd kill then in a blink of an eye –right now, Paula needed a friend. And a friend with a mallet was always a bonus.

After cleaning myself up and removing several thorns (had to do it on the run, but man, did those things sting! I wish I had gone to the Nurse for help…but right now, first things first) I caught Paula's trail in a dim, smoky little bar, where she was pouring down a bottle of gin down her throat, talking to no one in particular:

"Who am I kidding…work hard, study hard, nothing's gonna change. They'll never put me on TV, face the facts, everyone and their grandma said I'm hideous and that's putting it mildly…ugh…maybe just…stick to school and hope my voice will improve…there's a laugh. I'm nothing more than some parrot; I can't even make up one individual voice on my own!"

"Hey there, pretty girl…" a well-build man approached her, eying her carefully "Feeling lonely, lovely?"

She didn't respond, just kept sipping her gin and staring blankly in front of herself, while the muscle man took that a sign to sit next to her:

"You know, you do look like you could use some company…but this place is a little…stuffy, wanna get some air?"

I felt disgusted; this guy looked almost 40 years old. I coughed a bit, making my way over there, wondering how to shoo him off –I was a tiny toon, and he was really, really huge –I had a hunch that even a mallet, or a set of anvils wouldn't do that good at the moment. Maybe I could ask for help? Surely, he wouldn't hit a tiny kid, right?

What shocked me though, was Copycat's response. She shrugged her shoulders and muttered:

"Whatever."

"Let's go then, cutie…"

"Paula!" I finally called out and her entire body jumped upward, then her eyes grew wide with shock and surprise. Her new fried gave me an odd look, but remained silent, when she questioned:

"….you? What're you doing here, kid?"

"You know this little…puppy?" her companion questioned, and I frowned:

"I'm not a puppy!" I realized how stupid that sounded at the moment. The man could easily knock me out with just one punch; but I couldn't leave, this was wrong, disturbing and creepy. Much to my relief, Paula nodded:

"He's a…friend. Give us a minute, will ya?"

Muscle man walked away, joining a bunch of other males, several of them eying Paula from head to toe. I took a seat next to her, almost choking on the fumes and stench around me; she noticed and repeated:

"What ARE you doing here?"

"I…you shouldn' have left the set. My brother…he just-"

"Forget about it. I understand, he can't work with me, I'll just stay out of your way. You guys'll figure out something to keep your show on." Paula claimed, sipping some more gin. My stomach curled up just from that sight, I can't imagine what that would taste like…but it seemed disgusting.

I stood silent for a while, before finally tugging on her shirt:

"….you shouldn' drink that."

"Please leave, you're a cute, sweet little boy. You shouldn't be here, it's…you're too young." Avoiding my advice, she kept drinking anyway

"I'm not THAT young…sure, I sing about being seven, but…well, I'm a little older…you don't think toons age, too?" I pondered on my actual age. I couldn't remember exactly when we were all created; toons age a lot differently than humans. We live a lot longer, too, it depends on a lot of things. Although it's not exactly laughter that keeps us alive, more like the memory of us…but I guess it wasn't the right moment to teach her about toon etiquette right now.

"You should leave. Those people…" I threw another glance at muscle man and his group of alcoholic friends, who were snickering at us and one even whistled at her direction "….they're not nice. Please just go."

"YOU go. Like you said, bad people…I don't want you getting hurt."

"Then why should you get hurt?" I questioned, but got no answer.

Another round of silence followed, with her stating:

"….just leave kiddo, before someone tries something ugly with you…"

"What about you?"

"I don't care, but you….you go, alright?"

"….ok." I sighed a little bit, I guess I couldn't force her to do anything. I stood up, but before turning away, I added "Just wanted to say…I'm not mad anymore, `bout yesterday, I mean. Also…you shouldn' quit. I'll ask Yakko to cool off, and…I really wish you'd leave, too. I don' like those men…"

With that, I walked away, then heard a squeak behind me; Paula had stood up as well, in full disbelief, almost to a point where she was about to break down in tears once more:

"You…mean that?"

"….yeah, they're kinda scary and they smell bad, too…"

"About me leaving…?"

"Uhm…" she was making such a huge deal about this, when it was nothing at all really; I felt embarrassed. I hadn't said anything someone else wouldn't tell an underage girl in a place like this, so…why?

"No one's cared about what I do in years, except for my family…" she smiled, and nod her head "…alright, but…you leave first. It won't look good if people saw you with a drunk old woman…"

"I'm not, I don' believe you'll leave! That guy'll just come back again!" I insisted, while Paula just shrugged her shoulders:

"So? He thinks I'm 25."

I wasn't sure how that made any bit of this better. If anything, the only comfort in this was the fact that he wouldn't expect going to jail, if he did try anything.

"Let's go…if worse comes to worse…we'll tell people you're my mother." I suggested, then quickly regret it. I didn't wanna offend her by making her seem that old, however, she just laughed, apparently seeing it in a different light:

"Not possible. There'd have to be a father, and, well…who'd believe I'm actually a family woman?"

"….well, y'know…maybe you're just the nice lady who took me in, the cute little puppy and gave it a home." I finished off, nodding my head, which made Paula laugh once more. Apparently, she wasn't so sensitive and defensive when she was under the influence of alcohol.

"Who says I'm nice?"

"I know you are, I've seen you today… eh…this morning, at the café …I was there too, y'know…" Copycat seemed a bit confused, so I hurried to add "Just having breakfast! I didn't follow you around or anything…well…except for right now, I guess, but I wanted to say s-"

"We should go, that woman over there is giving you a weird look." With that, Paula took my hand and we rushed outside, it was already a late afternoon. One would ask, who drinks when it's still technically daytime?

"Hey…" she immediately let go of my hand, surprised at herself:

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"No, no! Uhm…I just wanted to ask…" I scratched the side of my head "CAN you do Yakko's voice?"

She thought about it, it took a while, before finally answering, seeming unsure:

"I don't know…I doubt it, never tried…"

"Oh."

We kept walking and I looked up at her puffy, red face, sun reflecting from that twitchy ring and all the colors in her hair:

"….you're pretty."

"Oh?" now she stared at me weird "…funny, I thought I was the one who drank. Are you….feeling ok?"

"….will ya take that stupid lip-ring off, I really hate it!"

"But I like it…!"

"It's really ugly."

A small smile formed on her lips, and she touched the piercing, then said:

"Well, maybe…I guess I could pierce my eyebrow instead…"

So until it got dark, we just walked, at first randomly talking, in between huge gaps of silence, then jumping from conversation to conversation… and I figured…

There was nothing wrong with me or my eyes, but the people in Burbank were very, very weird.


	3. Chapter 3

By the next time we were shooting, no one had mentioned Paula at all; it was as if the awkward situation hadn't occurred. I figured, why should we, as far as I could tell, we didn't talk about all the other cast members –and she wasn't even that–so why mention her at all?

No one really asked me questions about chasing after her, either, which was perfect for me. Again, not sure why, I wanted to keep everything on the low -a secret, if you will- `course, it's not like there's much to tell, anyway. We walked around, had a few hotdogs, then said our goodbyes and went to our homes. The end. I hadn't considered her at all, until I began speaking my lines and noticed that my "sister" didn't sound like before. Yes, she resembled Dot, yes, my own actual sister's throat hadn't exactly healed yet… so that WAS another dub person, but one thing was clear to me:

"You're not Paula!" I claimed, pointing a finger in the air, again for some reason assuming the voice lady was somewhere up in the clouds

An annoyed puff was heard, as the dub actress tried to save the situation:

"No, I'm Dot. Your sister. Seriously, how many pianos did you take to the head today?"

"Where's Paula?" I ignored the person completely, while the director sighed and waved at everyone:

"Cut. Wakko, is it your life purpose to make my job a living Hell?"

"Oh no, it's OUR job to make everyone's lives a living Hell." Yakko interjected, amused"You got it backwards, buddy."

"I wanna know what happened to Dot's previous dubber!" I insisted, walking over to our director, who just scratched his bright red cap and sighed deeply, muttering something of the sort "I could've picked more bunnies, could've picked little kittens… I made a show about diva puppies…"

"We're not puppies!" Dot spoke up, her voice was getting back now, but it was pretty deep and raspy. Yakko tried to shush her gently:

"Now now, don't strain yourself, sister sibling. Ahhhh, Wakko… what IS the big deal here, anyway? In a few weeks, we won't need a Dot double at all, and, besides…" at this point, he seemed a little… weary. "Maybe it wouldn't have worked out. We, uh…got off on the wrong foot, it'd be difficult, she's probably mad at us, we'd fight on set all the time. Better to just let it go, right buddy?"

"Did she quit?" I stood my ground stubbornly, while the director nodded his head:

"Yes, I thought that was obvious. Now can we-"

"Liar!" I frowned, feeling mad "Shesaid she wouldn'! She promised me! She's a liar!"

"Wakko…" Yakko blinked at me, while Dot tried her own approach:

"Sweetie? It's alright. Maybe she got sick, maybe she found a better job, or…"

"Now you're a liar, too!" I turned on my heels and once more, rushed off, hearing Yakko sigh behind me:

"This is becoming a habit of his. I'm tired of chasing after a disgruntled middle sibling who can't make up his own mind."

"Let him go." Dot advised. "If it'll calm him down…"

Once I reached the Crawford residence, my fury turned into insecurity. How exactly was I supposed to approach this? Ring on the doorbell, her mom would answer and I'd say "Hi, I'm a friend of Paula's"? I didn't think it would work, since for some reason, I was pretty sure Paula didn't have any friends. Her mother probably knew very little about me and would assume I was trying to harm her daughter like everyone else apparently did.

While I pondered on that, I couldn't help but, once more, overhear a conversation in what I again assume was their living room. Paula's parents were talking; the mother seemed depressed and the father, pale and exhausted.

"Why couldn't she have just been born pretty?" he pointed out, sighing deeply."I love our little girl, but this is ruining her life. I mean, I was never a looker, a million people aren't movie stars and they still go about their lives normally! Why can't she?"

"Honey, she's just… "Paula's mother tried to reason, then finally gave in."I wish she wasn't so ugly, I really do. Maybe if we fixed her up… a nose job, or something… she has my nose, I always thought it was big, but that never stopped me…"

"Vanity. Why is she so vain? And why can't people get off her case? Is ugly a sin now, too?" the man's sadness turned into fury. "They can't leave her be, I think… I don't know, Theresa, I think maybe we should just move again. Maybe in a new town, where people won't be so judgmental. To tell you the truth… I always hoped she'd grow up being pretty. It's a shame. If she at least had your voice…"

I didn't wanna keep listening to all that, since I felt disgusted, sick to my stomach. The last thing I heard came from her mother:

"Well it's the nose, obviously. If they're gonna pick on her or insult her, they'd start with the nose, they're probably making fun of it, Michael, let's just pitch in and maybe a little surger-"

"Sneaking around again, kiddo?" I heard from behind me, actually, above me. Looking up, I noticed Paula on the top of the garden chestnut tree, with a small smile on her face. From the moist in her eyes, I could tell she heard every word I just did and I was sure that nothing I could tell her at that moment would make her feel any better. However, she just laughed and brushed it off:

"This isn't the first time they've said things like that. When they think I don't hear them, it can get a LOT worse…" Paula was still smiling, but I could see that her insides were breaking. I'm not sure why I cared, not sure why I wanted to make her feel better, but I did. Maybe it was pity? Mostly, I was still very confused, since I honestly did find her good looking… but even her parents… if I could call people of the sort a family… confusion aside, I just blurted out:

"You ok?"

"Like I said, I've heard it before." the brunette girl kept smiling, picking up a small leaf with two holes in it and looking through them, first at me, then at the sky."You know how beautiful the world can look if you play with the lights a little bit? Sunshine reflects from the leaves and… it makes those clouds look almost silver, and the sky, as if there are tiny threads of gold just randomly scattered around…"

Without so much as asking, I climbed up the tree and sat next to her. As she handed me the leaf, I took a peek. I was never the romantic type, so silver clouds or gold skies didn't really interest me, but to make her at least a little content, I said:

"Faboo!"

Then I gave her back the leaf. I hardly saw anything interesting through it, anyway.

"Why'd you quit?"I went straight to the point, wanting to forget that parental scene from before as quickly as possible.

"It just… I don't think your brother likes me very much." Paula trailed off, while I shook my head:

"He was just angry at the people who were tryin' to replace Dot! He took it out on you, he'd never do it unless they didn't stir him up like that. He doesn' know you, so how can he dislike you?"

Paula's smile turned ironic and she gestured to herself, from head to toe, then said no more.

"I know my brother. He wouldn' do that do anyone. I promise. Come back…"

"I, eh… kiddo-"

"My name's Wakko." I insisted. I know that to her I was just a kid, but it wouldn't hurt to use a name every now and then, now would it? I didn't go around calling her "Voice lady", did I?

"Wakko." Paula agreed. "I don't think it would work out."

"But-"

"Look, I hear your sister's getting better. Soon, you won't even need a voice double. The pay was awful, too, and I did a terrible job. I figure… no sense in keeping it up. I'll figure something out." Copycat shrugged her shoulders, then went back to staring at the sky. I couldn't see her that well, all the leaves were in my way, but she still had that lip-ring on and that annoyed me:

"…I thought you were gonna take that twitchy thing off."

"I like it." Paula said simply and that was that.

We stood on the branch in silence, before I decided to speak up once more:

"….You need to move out of here. These people… they're not really helpin' your self-esteem, they're ruinin' it."

"They're just being honest to each other."

"And then they turn to you and tell you you're beautiful. Liars. I hate liars." I crossed my arms, kicking my feet in the air, while Paula smiled once more:

"I'm their daughter. I could look like The Frankenstein monster; to them I'll always be pretty."

That part confused me. I think she was just trying to make herself feel better, but again, how was that comforting?

"If that was true, why call you those… names in private?" I mused aloud, and Paula sighed:

"Well whaddaya want them to do, Wakko? When someone comes crying to you about how ugly they are, you tell them they're not, what do you expect them to do?"

I guess she had a point. I never met parents who found their own child ugly, though.

"…Just because they say it doesn' mean it's true." I turned to her, then looked around."You like trees?"

"I love climbing." Copycat grinned, but a wrinkle formed on her forehead, as she went backwards on our conversation. "But I AM leaving this house, it's too much, for all of us. They worry, I feel like a monster between them, so I'm moving out."

"Where? Do ya have any money?" I was curious now; she did say her dubbing job didn't pay enough.

"I'm staying with a friend." I was shocked that she did in fact have those, and Paula seemed to notice, probably from the expression on my face "Yes, I HAVE friends… even monsters do… he's 18, I met him at school, he's very good with his voice…and he's gay." She added, before I could interject about it being inappropriate." So, if anything… he thinks of me as a little sister. He'll help me find a job and assured me that none of his straight friends would touch me. Not that they'd want to, but…" she rolled her eyes, however, seemed happy.

"But… does that mean you're leaving Burbank?"

"I dunno, he hasn't picked a location yet. For now, no, but he's planning on buying a different place once he makes more money. If he leaves, I'm going, too." Copycat finished, then threw the leaf away and jumped on the ground; I followed. "Anyway, you were very sweet to care… I… well no one really has cared this much, like I said before, not even the dude I'll be living with. He doesn't care what I do or where I go, but giving me a roof is more than I could ask for. You're… you're too nice, you know that?"

For some reason, that comment made me flush a little; Copycat didn't notice though, as she went on:

"You better get going, your siblings must be worr-"

"There you are!"

We both turned our gazes ahead, so quickly, our necks snapped. She grasped hers and crumbled, blushing from head to toe, while I didn't really bother with mine:

"How'd you find me?"

"You underestimate me, dear sibling! Who taught you everything you know?" Yakko pointed out, crossing his arms with a cocky grin on his face. I pondered that for a moment:

"…The TV."

"And who bought you that TV, smart-mouth? You give and you give, and never get back. Ah, you ungrateful youth, someday, you'll look back on these days and think of your poor, old brother, who raised you from scratch." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, not really noticing Paula and began walking me away "Come on, we're not shooting today, so let's grab lunch. Dot's waiting for us at that Italian place already."

"I just… in a sec… I'll catch up in a lil bit. You go." I told him, while Yakko's eyes grew the size of plates:

"You, casting aside the chance to stuff yourself senseless at one of your favorite places? Denying food? What, are you coming down with something? What could be more important than-" he then looked behind us and saw her. At that moment, once more, she had completely changed.

Standing her ground, icy glare and the sun in her colorful hair, she seemed like she almost wanted him to insult her, offend her, start another fight. My brother however just remained silent (miracles happen!) and looked her up and down, apparently embarrassed by the way he had acted the previous time they met. I figured he would apologize, or insult her again, I wasn't sure; but he just cleared his throat and said:

"Wanna come too?"

That came as a shock to both me and Paula; for some reason, I felt discontent. She, on the other hand, was just puzzled and her "I'm so tough and I'll kick your ass, buddy" mask fell faster than an autumn chestnut. All she could do was blink at him, then squirm and cover the upper part of her body with her thin arms, her hair plastering over her face, as she said:

"No."

I looked at my brother, who never really took rejection badly, not at all; for some reason now, he seemed just as confused as she was:

"Look, I just… about before…"

Paula turned on her heels and disappeared from sight, while Yakko scratched the side of his face:

"Ahhhh… did I say something wrong, here?"

"Thanks a lot!" I fumed at him, annoyed "I wanted to talk to `er and now you went and scared `er off!"

"Well sor-ryyyy, I didn't know I was THAT scary." Yakko turned to me, while I kept fussing:

"Of course she's not gonna come with YOU! You treated her horribly and now you expect her to just share spaghetti? You know how insecure she-"

"So I can't ask a cute girl out? What's your problem? I was gonna apologize. She said things about me, too! We were angry; we can patch things up, big deal! I wanted to clear the air." My older sibling explained, but I didn't really listen. One word had stuck in my mind, even as he went on a huge speech about teenage bickering and how everything can be settled trough a nice and calm conversation.

Cute? Did he just call her cute?

"…you think she's cute?"

He gave me an odd look:

"Is that a crime now? Wow, I should've been in jail years ago, then…"

"But you called her ugly!" I insisted, he shrugged his shoulders:

"I hadn't even seen her before."

"You called her that even when you did see her!"

"I had to say SOMETHING. Actually, I was surprised. She's kinda pretty…" Yakko claimed, then pat me on the back "When you're older, you'll understand."

Pretty? PRETTY?

"She's beautiful!"I hissed, and, I'm using this sentence a lot lately, not sure why. "And I'm not hungry!" much like Paula, I ran off, not even trying to look for her this time. For some reason, I felt rage, at all these people, at Paula's parents, but mostly, at my own brother. Was he making fun of her again? Was he trying to pity her? Everyone thought she was ugly, so how could he be honest?

He wasn't. No way. And even if he was, she'd never like him. He was so mean to her, no one would forgive him, she just wouldn't…

Cute? Pretty?

…I had no clue why, but the entire day I was fuming and trying to convince myself that he didn't mean it. That he lied to me since he figured she was my friend. That she'd never like him.

No clue why… just… no clue.

Unfortunately, by the end of the day, I realized I had wasted my time.

I once more ran into Paula and was sure she thought I was a creepy stalker, but this time, Copycat didn't see me. What I saw, for some reason, made my insides twitch and splatter; her, the girl with no face for TV and no voice, looking at my brother's poster and drawing a little heart next to him with a green marker, before walking away, probably to another bar again.

It was pretty obvious now why she quit.

Paula had a crush on my big brother.

That was fine; I told myself on the way back to the tower, she wasn't his type. He liked long-legged blondes, or mind-blowing brunettes, or ravishing redheads, he'd never…

When I entered my house though, that thought blew away like smoke, too. He was on the phone, I don't know who with, and was talking:

"And she was pretty too! Her hair was kinda crazy, but you know, I love chicks with that whole "wanna-be rebel" look. Too bad she turned me down, I'm gonna try and ask her out again. What? No, no, she's not a punk, ahhhh… she had a lip-ring and everything, but her clothes seemed pretty normal. Could use a nose-ring, though. I dunno, but when I do get her alone, I'll work things out, she'll understand. Not sure, I think her name is… Paula?"

I just turned around and left, right there. I didn't know what was going on, but…

Not gonna happen and I was making sure of it.

I didn't have a crush on Paula, I know full well she's far too old; but I liked her… and my brother, even if he was the best guy ever, was not the type she needed, a guy who'd dump a beautiful girl, just because her sister was hotter. It would crush her and Paula…

They're keeping away and I'm swearing that on my mallet.


	4. Chapter 4

It took a few weeks, but Paula finally moved out of her parents' house and in with that creepy Martin guy. He too had a lip-ring, weird, jet-black hair and dressed like a zombie all the time; but, at least he seemed nice. Every time we'd meet he'd ruffle my hat and call me "little dude".

Man, I hated that!

Up to the point of her moving out, me and Copycat had become friends; we hung out a lot, either at fast-food places, on top of trees listening to music or around theme parks. Even went to the circus once. Each time we'd had to part ways, she assured me she never had that much fun in her life.

People ridiculed her everywhere we went; called her names, stared, pointed, laughed. At some points, she'd break down in tears, when it was just her and me, claiming she felt embarrassed about humiliating me. I told her it was all bollocks; not sure if she ever believed me, though.

I'd spend hours assuring her that people were nuts in the head and that she WAS beautiful. I'm not sure to what extend that might be true, but I believed it, so she should, too. She needed to hear it and needed me–even if she claimed I was lying, it still made her smile and feel better.

"Sometimes…" Paula told me, while we were at the roller-skating ring, sharing smoothies."I feel like I'm doing a crime just by walking outside, you know, going out to buy groceries and such. It sucks, dude. I just wish I could hide in a rock somewhere."

"Well… I dunno why people keep doin' this to you." I admitted, sipping on my drink."I mean, most of them aren't exactly Victoria Secret models, I think the girls might just be jealous…"

"Yeah… and the guys?" she mocked me, but I could see in her soft face that she felt a tad relieved.

"Prolly bein' jerks since they can't get you or have no life." I believed it was the latter. Paula shook her head and punched me in the shoulder lightly:

"You're a piece, you know that? Oh and… you read "Victoria Secret"?" she grinned, while I ruffled my hat, a tad embarrassed:

"My brother has `em lyin' around… I don' read them, just… a few times, was curious, is all…"

I wanted to bite my tongue at that same moment, just for mentioning Yakko. Every time I did, I could notice a sort of sparkle hit her eyes, also, a shade of doubt, shame and sadness. My loud-mouth brother HAD been trying to contact her for a while, now… but she'd run off the minute he'd come 10 feet near her, so they never really spoke. Yakko was confused, he figured she must really hate him and actually decided to maybe give it up and check out other girls; I encouraged him, and he kept on flirting, hitting on all attractive females he met, however, for some reason, he kept nagging me about inviting her over to the tower sometime, if "she WAS my friend, why wouldn't I?"

"Oh… I bet he loves those…uhm, beautiful girls, doesn't he?" Paula tried to force a laugh, but ended up almost choking on her straw. After patting her on the back several times and making sure she was breathing alright, I finally answered:

"It's just a guy thing."

"Has he, uhm… mentioned me, at all?" Copycat wanted to know and I squished my, now, empty beverage cup, before lying straight in her hopeful, yet dim eyes:

"Nope… well, he's… kinda a jerk, but I make sure he never says anything offensive."

"…Hereally thinks I'm ugly, huh?" Paula's smile returned once more, as she pushed the drink aside and walked away, I followed, adding:

"Doesn' mean he's right! He's only seen you for a few minutes, two times, he can't judge!"

"Yeah… hey, wanna go get cheeseburgers?" she offered, although I was sure she had no appetite at the moment. Me, however, I was starving like a wolf, so I selfishlynodded my head:

"Faboo!"

By the time she moved in with Martin, Paula invited me over to check out her new place. Her friend was gone, so I felt a lot more comfortable and made myself at home.

"So, whaddaya think?" my female friend asked with a huge grin, gesturing to the apartment, after giving me the grand tour.

I was hardly impressed; it had two tiny rooms and a kitchen; the walls were a wreck, the paint was coming down, the windows were just too small, so fresh air was out of the question. I saw a few roaches in said kitchen and didn't dare enter their even tinier bathroom:

"…It'snot exactly a palace, is it?"

"Well, you get what you get." Paula threw herself on her bed, which had gotten damaged during the moving and was now missing one leg; still, she balanced it, with a whole bunch of books. There were posters all over the ugly walls and clothes, books and CDs scatteredall over the floor. The only cute thing I found were a bunch of plush toys she had arranged on the top of her dresser, claiming they were each given to her by someone dear from her past.

I don't really like those types of toys, but hey, she WAS a girl.

"So, d'ya get a job?" I questioned, taking a seat on a nearby fluffy chair, feeling ridiculous and hoping no one would ever know I came close to something so… yucky.

"Ahmmm… I tried a waitress gig; didn't work, I'm too clumsy, so I broke everything and they kicked me out. Then I tried to be a store clerk, but I'm horrible with numbers and very, very slow, so I was fired in less than an customers were so nasty!"Paula threw her feet in the air, not really bothered by those memories, "Then, I went over to a diaper making factory… again, very slow and clumsy, so the guy just let me go after a day. Oh, and afterwards, tried a liquor storage place, all I had to do was pick up the phone and write down orders. I got all of them wrong, I couldn't hear the people and they were even meaner than the ones at the grocery store." She shrugged, but as she crossed her legs in the air, remained positive. "Martin found me a place at this restaurant, he said I could clean, or take away the dirty plates, or do the dishes. If I fail all three, I'll just keep trying."

I was happy to see that her spirit was up; it was probably hard to get a job, especially with no exceptional qualities or talents.

"Can you cook?" I pondered, then jumped on my feet."Oh, make me something! I can judge!"

Paula laughed at this and sat up in her bed, resting her face on her hands:

"No offense, Wakko, but you eat tables and magnets."

"Doesn' mean I don't know good food!"

"I haven't ever tried cooking, so maybe I should practice before heading towards that direction." Copycat smiled, then threw a pillow at me. "Hey! You promised you'd teach me how to skateboard today. I know I have awful balance, but you promised! Come on!"

"Ok." I agreed and with that, we left, though ideas kept flooding my 'd probably get a job, but I still wanted people off her back. Maybe a boyfriend? If they saw her walking around with some attractive guy, they'd get off her back, right?

No, not my brother. Don't even go there!

So my brilliant idea was put to work. At first I asked The Mime, Mark, but he just laughed in my face and told me he'd rather eat a whole bucket full of leeches. My next pick was Dexter Douglas, but he shook his head, claiming people disliked him enough already and that she wasn't "really what he'd want for a girlfriend". I even asked Freakazoid, but he said he was taken, apparently by some brunette from his own show.

Much to my surprise, someone actually offered to help out; it was Stephanie Dorris, or "Steph", as people knew her, from the "Freakazoid" show. She said she'd seen Paula around and felt really bad for her and how everyone treated her, so she didn't mind doing it. The very next day, while me and Paula were hanging out by the bridge and blowing soap bubbles through tiny straws, Steph came forward and asked my friend out, just like that. I think Copycat almost fell overboard, you could see she was stricken by Steph's beauty, but mostly, shocked beyond belief that such a looker would want her as a date. Without so much as thinking it over, Paula muttered a "yes" and it was done. I wanted to high-five myself at that moment, since I finally did something that could, in fact, help Copycat out.

However… things hardly go as planned. I now regret ever butting in and not just keeping as the comforting friend that I was before. Two horrible things happened; but let's walk trough them, one at a time.

Steph and Paula paraded around town, doing shameless, embarrassing actions for everyone to see; they'd make out in corners, on park benches, up to a point where they'd rip each other's clothes off. I even saw them at clubs, where they went even further, giving a lot of perverts a great show. Yeah, for a little bit, people weren't that focused on Copycat's looks, although they still commented"How ugly, what does Steph see in her? Lesbos." But they now turned into a walking pride parade. Worst part was, however, that Steph didn't even truly care. Every time Paula's back was turned, she'd laugh with all the people around and mock her, claiming she was the "ugliest thing ever, disgusting, have to shower and wash my mouth with cyanide after every time"…Thatmade me mad, but I had no clue how to bring it up to Paula without hurting her. I decided I had to be honest; I just needed a little time to gain some strength. Firstly, I called Steph out for how horrible she was and called her pretty much every bad thing in the book, then went off to admit it all to Paula. I wanted to be a good friend; turns out, I was a terrible one.

Now, instead of keeping the focus off her and her looks, I had turned her into a laughing stock… I never really forgave myself for that, ever.

But my second problem was my brother. He had a girlfriend at the time, but I could see how jealous and angry he'd get each time Paula shared a kiss with her "girlfriend". He considered that Paula was probably gay, but it still seemed to hurt him… and after figuring out what the truth was, he went in rage, left to seek out Steph and what happened after, I can't say. All I know, she was hardly seen around Burbank anymore.

"It was all my fault!" I confessed to Dot, who was trying to be comforting. "I just wanted `er to be happy! I never knew that blonde could be such a horrible lady!"

"Bad people exist, Wakko. You were just trying to help, but… having someone pity-date her…" my sister averted her eyes, while I wanted to defend myself, somehow:

"I didn' want that! I was sure Steph really liked her, if you'd seen-"I stopped there, my sister was really too young for anything of the sort. Actually, now that I think about it, she shouldn't have known that two girls "can" date…But somehow, she did. Maybe that's why people think she's very much smarter.

"Let it go and tell her." Dot advised, and I decided to do just that. Unfortunately, I didn't need to, since destiny helped me out… though not in the good way.

It was a rainy night and the three of us were stuck in the tower, eating dinner and watching old movies, when a knock on our door was heard. Hushing us both with a simple hand gesture, Yakko stood up and went over to open; what he saw was dripping wet… thing, with colors splattered all over her face and clothes that resembled bags and rags… if it weren't for that stupid lip-ring, I myself wouldn't recognize her.

Again, she stood her ground in front of him, although I noticed she clutched her fists and refused to meet his eyes:

"Is Wakko here?"

"He is, and…" I rushed right over and pushed Yakko out of the way, dragging Copycat inside:

"What happened? Are you ok?"

"Can I just… talk to you… alone?" she choked out trough a few hiccups, while Yakko and Dot interjected:

"Hold it! If you wanna go around looking like the "real princess" from that "pea" story, at least let us get you a towel…"

"I'm fine." Paula spat at him, but Dot touched her hand, somewhat gently:

"You're freezing and you'll probably catch a cold."

"I'm… ok." She insisted, so I dragged her to the other room, where she literally dropped in my lap trough sobs, explaining everything. Apparently, she went home to her and Martin's apartment and found Steph there, in his bed, then was told the whole truth, from start to bottom. Though Martin swore that he was gay and it was the blonde who tried to have some sort of way with him (Paula did claim he was fully clothed), the multi-colored girl had took just about all she could, so she just ran off, not wanting to speak to anyone, ever. Well, excluding me, and that surprised me… it was all my fault…

"No…you didn't know… you just wanted to make me feel pretty."Paula tried her best to stop crying, but ended up just choking on a set of her tears, then her own tongue, before finally hugging me again "Pity-dated… ridiculed… I can't take this, I don't wanna take this, I wish I just…"

"She's a nasty, awful little witch and you shouldn't even think about it again, ever! I'll… straighten things out, somehow… I'll fix it! I'll fix everything!" I promised, though I wasn't sure how I could do that. An idea struck me, courtesy of Dot, rumors…I'd go around and make Steph the mockery of town, see how she'd like it! I shared that with Paula, who just laughed and looked at me, with her huge, red, puffy face, a small smile forming underneath the tears:

"You're…"

"I understand if you'd be mad. I'd be mad at me too. I am, actually." I confessed, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "From now on, no more butting in your life! You're beautiful and you'll get anyone you want! As for Steph, well, don' worry, Dot'll help me out." I assured, still feeling so guilty and ashamed. Paula rubbed her eyes once more and gulped loudly:

"No clue where to go now… I can't go back to my parents' place, how would I keep face? They already think I'm hideous…"

"Freaks…" I muttered under my breath, but then corrected myself, noticing the glare I received from my newest friend "I mean, uh… you shouldn'… we'll figure somethin' out, don't worry!"

Paula now smudged her entire face with her hand, looking like a very weird, mist-matched clown, but gave a sincere smile, when she said:

"I know. I didn't come here to ask if I could stay. I'll find something. I just needed someone to sob on. I'm sorry, Wak, I just-

"I deserved it. I caused it, y'know…hey, stay for dinner! Yakko made chicken…"

"I… no, no thanks, I'd rather-

"Ahem." My oldest sibling entered the bedroom, eying us both sternly."Little brother, go help Dot with her dinner, she still can't chew THAT well and there are bones in there… and you, drag princess… hit the shower, clean yourself up and come get a meal, before you faint…"

"Look, I don't need your pi-"

"Did I stutter? In that tub, Snowie." Not saying anything more, Yakko exit the room, leaving us both to stare blankly after him. After a brief moment of silence, I edged her on:

"Just do it. Don't make him get forceful…" and I rushed over to help Dot out, while Paula was left to figure out where exactly our shower room was.

After a good hour, she came back, in our living room, looking very embarrassed, but surprisingly, more beautiful than I ever saw her before. Her face was completely clean, no make-up, her hair was dried off and shiny and for ONCE, that lip-ring was gone. I was kinda hoping she dropped it somewherein our place and would never find it again.

"You clean up good, kid." Dot commented, coughing slightly, and while Paula wanted to smile, she just couldn't make a single move, not even with her facial features. Since none of our clothes fit her, she was stuck in something that belonged to one of the prop girls, which had "incidentally", thank you dear big brother, found a way to stick in the tower; it was a simple, short white dress, but she seemed humiliated from just the thought that she was wearing my brother's ex's clothes.

"Here you go." I offered her a plate of food, then forced her to sit down on the couch beside me and Dot. "Feelin' better?"

"Y-yeah…" Paula stuttered, not wanting to touch the food, but judging from her grumbling stomach, she really needed it.

"Look, I'm not sure what happened…" Yakko spoke up."I, ahh, assume you had a fight with your roommate or something, or you just decided you don't like him anymore, I don't know, but… you can stay for a night, still, we can't keep you here, we barely fit in this tower ourselves and-"

"I didn't come here to live with YOU." Now Paula was definitely not touching the food and I somehow wanted to give Yakko a sign to keep it shut, but he just went on, throwing himself next to her:

"Look, all I'm saying… just stay here, until your clothes dry off and tomorrow-

"Just leave me alone, I'll be fine." She stood up, pushing aside the offered dinner and walking away, barefoot, almost seeming tempted to rip off the dress she was wearing. She turned to me and gave me a small smile "Thanks for listening, Wakko. You're awesome, you know? And Dot… I hope you get better even sooner!" before anyone could stop her, she rushed out the tower and ran off. Once more, Yakko was left in a puzzle:

"Alright, what did I do NOW? I was being nice, I offered her food and some shelter and she just… this is…"

"She's just upset, Yakko." Dot explained, hugging him lightly, while I remained silent. I really felt like all I'd been doing so far was making things worse for everybody.

"… I like her. I really do. She keeps giving me the cold shoulder, it's like she hates me and I don't get it. Not one bit. Is she really, you know…" Yakko mused, but shook it off. "I saw her with a few guys before, so what? Furry Mickey Mouse people aren't her type?"

"You like her?" I finally opened my mouth, while he rolled his eyes:

"Just because I'm not stalking her or writing her name all over my underwear or helpless trees doesn't mean I can't crush on someone. I wanna ask her out, but she runs off the second I get near her."

"You can't ask her out!" I half-yelled, then tried to keep composure." I mean, not now! What with Steph and everything…"

"So? I think now'd be the best time, she'll need someone to lean on."my smart-mouth brother went on, resting his back on the sofa, while Dot kept hugging him tightly.

"She'll just think you pity her, like Steph! Leave `er alone and just date someone else!" I insisted, while Yakko arched an eyebrow at me:

"Why, little brother, you wouldn't happen to… have a little… thing for our gloomy little fairy, now would you?"

"What? No! Ew! She's ten times my age!" I frowned, turning my back on him; my reaction seemed to amuse him, as he chuckled:

"Good that you realize. Well, it didn't work out with my last girlfriend… but I'm taken by little Paula, here. I think I can win her over, that is, if I can get her to stay still and talk to me."

"Don't." I hissed, but Yakko trailed off:

"Why, you think I can't do it?"

"No, you can't!" I lied once more, and felt ashamed for doing it to my own brother."She hates you, alright, and now, I think she hates the world. Leave `er be."

"So? Let her hate me, she just doesn't know how charming I can be. I'm not giving up."

"Yakko, just-"

"I'm not a quitter, bro, and I WILL get her to talk to me… maybe I should handcuff her to a lamp-post, or something…" I felt furious, and at the moment, wanted to leave immediately. I had no clue where Paula was, and I was sure I wouldn't be able to find her… but I had to try.

"I'm gonna go try and see where she went…" I told them, while Yakko interjected:

"No, if you go, I'll go, too… but then who's gonna stay here with Dot? She can't be out in this weather!"

"You stay here and-"

"Bro, I do wanna help, let's just figure something out and-"

"She's MY friend. I'm going." Yakko rushed in front of me, trying to snap me back to common sense:

"It's freezing. Raining. She could be anywhere and you'll catch your death out there. Wakko, if you leave, me and Dot will worry sick, you can't…"

"I can get an umbrella…" Dot said from behind us, but Yakko shook his head:

"You stay here and focus on getting better, cute sister sibling."

"Well I can stay alone for a little bit!" the female Warner insisted, while I brushed Yakko aside:

"It wouldn't be fair to just leave `er out there, without caring at all. That's just… wrong and inhumane…"

"But Wakk-

I turned my back on him and rushed outside the tower, then ran off, hoping to find some trace of her. Yeah, Yakko was better at this than me-but he was keeping away and she…

Wasn't she MY friend, after all?


	5. Chapter 5

It must've been hours, me, just walking in the rain…

I checked her cell; no answer. I went over to that Martin creep's place –he knew nothing and although he seemed concerned, didn't bother to actually look for her, so I was on my own. I considered actually talking to her parents, but that would've been useless… still… at least they'd react somehow, maybe police, anything? I wasn't sure…

The only trail I found was, in fact, some white rag tossed aside, resembling very much the dress Yakko gave her; that thought disturbed me, had she lost her mind? Did she actually flip out and… no, no, just… ew. Get it outta my head, must be something else…

Still, I found other tiny rags, much like this one, which led me to a parking lot. In the pouring rain, I saw few cars, but one in particular caught my attention –it wad dirty brown, old, with a few cracks on the top- and, as always, my brother had beat me to it, since he dragged me over there, while I had no clue what was going on.

"I thought you were stayin' home with Dot!" was my first question, but he shushed me:

"I called Rose to stay with her; she's a nurse, if she can't keep my sister well and healthy, who can?"

"OUR sister." I reminded, then gave him a quizzical look "What's with the draggin', anyway?"

"I found your friend." Yakko informed and placed me right in front that brown car's window, where I saw Paula, thankfully dressed in huge baggy clothes, sleeping silently, even if her face still seemed very red like before. I was relieved; she was dry, safe… no, wait, wait!

"Is this her car?"

"Dunno sib, I guess it is." My brother answered, twisting his ears a bit, trying to dry them off at least a little "Now I guess we wonder how to get her outta there…"

"…why?" I blinked at him, then stared at her once more. She seemed just fine, but…

"She didn'… did she do anything?"

"No, no, relax, buddy, she's perfectly fine. Just… very tired. I just thought that maybe we could get her back to the tower, at least for the night, make sure she eats something… from the looks of her, she hasn't had a bite in days." I considered everything he said; she WAS breathing, her color was… well, Paula was always pale and those dark shadows under her eyes were also there before she even left. I was no doctor, but I felt relief, then turned to Yakko:

"Maybe we should leave `er alone, for tonight. I'll come back tomorrow and-"

"Ehhhh, I said I considered it was her car… what if it's not, and your next friendly visit is in a nice stone walled womanly Heaven somewhere in Jamaica?" Yakko pondered for a moment, then shook his head "The doors are locked, though. There could be a siren, too… but the baggage trunk is left open, I'll slide right in and slide her out. Peace of cake."

"….oh." I guess she didn't exactly think it trough. Or maybe she didn't think anyone could fit trough a baggage trunk.

Quickly and steadily, my brother did exactly as he claimed he would, but it took him a while to actually get her out. He didn't seem to wanna drag her by the hair, and part of her T-shirt ripped, as he finally rolled her outside. With a small thud, she fell flat on the floor, rain pouring heavily down her, drops rolling from her face and tightly shut eyes. Now I began to worry once more:

"Why isn' she waking up? She took something, she did some-"

"She's passed out, I told you, she probably hasn't eaten or slept normally in weeks." Yakko assured me, but failed completely. He was no doctor, how could he know? I panicked, and felt that if she did in fact try to hurt herself, I wouldn't know what to do.

All my fault. Why, why didn't I keep a distance?

"Just help me get her back to the tower, the Nurse will take care of everything." As usual, Yakko was thinking much clearer. Me, I was in a state of fear that I could become a murdered just for trying to set someone up on a date.

It was hard, but we managed to get her up there; she barely moved an inch, but kept breathing. I don' mean to be offensive here, but Paula was rather heavy, even for the two of us! Still, we're as tiny as stick-figures, so that came natural, I suppose.

Yakko was right –and for once, I was glad that he was a smarty AND that he didn't rub it in- Hello Nurse confirmed that she was just tired, but promised to stay in and look after both her and Dot, just in case. Me, my sis and the beautiful Nurse spent hours in the kitchen chit-chatting… well, mostly, me trying to charm the Nurse, while Dot rolled her eyes and made witty comments. It was off my chest for good, things were okay, no need to worry! Feeling relieved, I made myself a bunch of huge snacks and grinned at fate. Life was good.

My smile quickly dropped however (just like my baloney sandwich with extra cheese, mustard, ketchup, pickles and salami) as I heard a scream coming from the living room.

"Ghost! Creepy mime ghost!" Paula had apparently woken up and, from the doorway, I saw Yakko yawning deeply. She was lying flat on our sofa, while he sat in the corner, flipping the TV channels, apparently bored:

"Well hellooooooo sleeping beauty. Welcome back from your thousand year sleep and thank you for finally spitting out the poison apple."

Paula arched her body up and looked around, feeling very confused and, she didn't even try to hide it this time, absolutely terrified:

"W-where am I?"

"Well, you're not in a glass coffin, and you're not in the Wicked Witch's ice castle, either, Snow." Yakko informed, throwing her a blank look "Y'know, usually, when people try to be hostile, you can at least tell them you have where to go, not run off and have them chase after you like mad dogs for hours. If I get pneumonia, I'm sending you the doctors' bill."

"I…uh…" apparently, it was taking Copycat a while to put two and two together, while myself, Dot and the Nurse decided it'd be best to keep away for the moment. Yakko glared at her and switched on the living room lights:

"Tell me, raggedy Anne, how many poison apples DID you take?"

"I didn't take anything, and… you!" facing him, Paula's face turned red once more "Lemme go already, you weird shirtless puppy!"

"Coming from the girl looking like a hobo and hijacking people's cars just so she can have somewhere to sleep in. Yeah, I'm the weird one." The eldest Warner commented, sitting next to her "Look, you really didn't do anything, right?"

"No!" she practically hissed, seeming appalled "And that was MY car, my uncle gave it to me!"

"…..wow, well… for his birthday, send him your neighbors' trash can, then. Look, why were you sleeping in that piece of junk? I told you to stay here for the night, didn't I?"

"I don't want your pity." Paula turned her head away, and I felt like she was about to start crying again. Yakko however handled things calmly:

"So you'd rather live in a car, dressed in… what I'm hoping… is a piece of your own clothing?"

"They're just… oldish… look, I don't even have a job, remember? I can't afford nice clothes like y-"she looked at Yakko's pants, then shrugged "Ok, fine, even those are better than some of my stuff. What'd you want me to do, walk around in a tiny white dress some whore wore before me? Rather switch wardrobe with hobos indeed." She frowned and crossed her arms, while for some reason, Yakko had to cover his mouth to refrain from laughing. Me, I found no humor in any of this, at all, but maybe her words reminded him of something funny, like a good knock-knock joke.

"Never touched the babe. They sent it over here to fit it for Dot, as a nurse's outfit, then gave up and made her a brand new one. I found it at the bottom of her closet, seemed like the only thing that would fit…`course, if you would've rather be in my pants, by all means." He wiggled his eyebrows and she turned crimson, from head to toe, gulping very loudly:

"Uhm…" Paula was about to faint again, while Yakko seemed to be enjoying himself very much.

"Now that that's out of the question… you're eating something, then going back to sleep and in the morning, we'll figure something out-"

"I'm not staying, you can't make me and-"

"Too bad; tower's locked for the night, no one's getting in or out." The family yapper informed, while Copycat seemed furious:

"I'm calling the police, this is… hostage!"

"….right, I'm sure I'll earn a very pretty bunch of nickels, you little prisoner, you. Look, kidding aside… no, you're not gonna live in your car and… I know you hate me, I can tell; do it for my brother. He cares about you." Yakko claimed a tad quieter than before and Paula's face paled up once more. Her features seemed to relax, as she crumbled herself in a tiny ball on the couch, covering her knees with her hands:

"He… wants me to stay tonight?"

"He rushed out first to look for you. Look, nothing personal… but you freak him out like that again, I'll never forgive you. Stay put." The two shared an awkward glare, while my brother seemed stern and demanding, she gave out the impression of helpless and weak. A small smile formed on her lips, and yet, the look in her eyes was full of disbelief:

"He's really… such a nice kid."

"That he is." Yakko agreed and turned back to the TV, but I could tell he wasn't really paying attention; especially after Copycat spoke in a somewhat trembling voice:

"I'm sorry I got him worried… please forgive me."

No one said anything more, as she lay back down, covered herself up and closed her eyes once more. Yakko opened his mouth, but, assuming she had gone fast asleep, just managed to mutter:

"I was worried, too…"

I crossed my arms, while the Nurse took both me and Dot back in the kitchen. My little sister, voice still raspy, hadn't lost her insightful spirit:

"Told ya he likes her."

"Well… tough for him, she doesn't." I frowned, while Hello Nurse had other things on her mind. She was making several phone calls, apparently trying to find either a place for Paula to stay at, or some type of job, anything, really. I pondered for a moment if living in a car would be that bad, but where would she shower, or go to the bathroom, and what if someone broke in and hurt her? Apparently, this wasn't my place to handle, but the Nurse seemed to have things under control.

"Why're you so jealous of Yakko, Wakko?" Dot turned to me, while I fumed again, not wanting to fight with her, since she was still very sick, but…

Why does everyone always claim I'm jealous? Am not!

"I'm not jealous!" I told Dot, who threw me a disbelieving look, but let me go on "I just don't think they'd work out and he-"

"Yakko is one of the greatest guys ever, how can you say that about your own brother?" now Dot seemed angry and disbelieving. I backed down, apparently, I hadn't worded it right:

"He is! But you know how he treats girls! I just don' want `im to hurt `er, that's all! She does have low self-esteem and being dumped after a week over some redhead with stairway legs won' do `er good at all!"

"I'm sure he wouldn't do that." Dot claimed, but I was far from being so optimistic:

"He teases her, it's all a game to him, he just wants to win `er over, to prove he can!"

"….I do think he does like her, even a little, though." My sister shrugged her shoulders, then walked over to the fridge to get herself a chocolate bar "But it's alright, since you DID say she hates him…" the last sentence was filled with irony, since apparently, it was obvious to everyone in the building that hatred was the furthest in Paula's mind.

"Well… you'll see!" I fumed and took two candy bars myself, wondering what I could do, to keep the two apart.

"Haven't you learned your lesson? Stay out of that girl's love life." Dot sighed, while I defended myself:

"I really did think Steph would like `er! She's pretty, why not be liked?"

I had seen several guys hit on her in bars and clubs, even if Burbank seemed to have some type of problem with how she looked. To each his own, but she could get someone, if she wanted.

"I'm cuter." Dot claimed, then shrugged her shoulders "But she's ok, I guess. Nothing special, but she's attractive. Still, let her be, be a friend and stop butting in. People liking her or not is none of your business and if you keep meddling in her life, you're gonna end up hurting her a lot more than a couple of random strangers on the streets."

She did have a point; unfortunately, I was never one to listen to logic.

No one spoke a word about her. Paula was left to sleep on the couch, while the Nurse went home, leaving us three Warners in our own bedroom… it was a peaceful and calm night, except for… well, maybe I had dreamed, but I thought I heard Yakko say Paula's name in his sleep.

Or he could've just said "Panama". He still has that weird nightmare about not getting all the nations of the world right.

The morning was… somewhat weird, somewhat funny. While Yakko took it upon himself to make breakfast, and I made it a point to get in his way and make everything a great big huge mess, Paula refused to leave the bathroom for hours and hours. I considered checking in on her, but the door was locked, so I had to knock every once in a while and ask if she were ok. Her responses were always "Yes" and she sounded very normal, so I figured I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe she was trying to escape the tower somehow, but that'd be hard, since I doubt she'd be able to climb to its top, all by herself, even if she was good with trees.

Hello Nurse came over to check on her and see if she was alright; at that point, the pancakes were done and Yakko pretty much demanded that Copycat came out, or he'd blow up the entire bathroom with a chunk of dynamite, including herself. Paula did come out, and the reason she took so long was, she was doing her hair and make-up… I frowned at that, her face looked like a mess; she was like some spooky clown person.

"I had to put on my face." Paula explained, motioning to her eyes, which were covered with a ton of eyeliner and a whole bunch of purple and blue eye-shadow. I huffed and stared her down… eh, up, I guess:

"Can't you just keep your face clean? This looks awful!"

"Since when did you become a loving mother? I must've missed a whole lot these past few months." Yakko noted, not really caring about her make-up, setting the table. His empathy changed however once Dot showed up, following Paula out of the bathroom, also "dolled up". I had to fight back a laugh; `least now we could both be angry:

"Hey! Who gave you permission to mess with my sister's face?" Yakko almost shrieked, while Dot rolled her eyes:

"I asked her. And it's not like it's gonna stay like this forever!"

"You're just a little girl!" our brother seemed appalled, although technically, it wasn't really bad. She did have a little eyeliner on and light lip-gloss; but you know, parental figures get worked up very easily.

"Don't worry, I'll have her cleaned up in a few." Paula assured, crossing her arms "She just wanted to play-"

"I think it looks great!" Hello Nurse interjected, and Dot seemed proud. She always loved it when people complimented her. Yakko hardly shared the enthusiasm, while I just wanted to get it all over with and have some food.

"I see you like make-up?" the Nurse went on, while Copycat, fiddling her fingers, nodded her head, a tad embarrassed to be spoken to:

"I, uh… well, yeah…"

"I just came over to tell you… I managed to get you a job at the studio." Hello Nurse went on, ignoring Yakko, who was angrily wiping Dot's face clean "It took a LOT of convincing… I had to pull some strings and such, but… the director and Mr. Plotz agreed that you can help out with the actors' clothes and make-up…"

At this point, I had taken a huge chunk of toast and literally choked. Yakko also looked up, seeming surprised, while Dot just sat down and listened.

"M-me?" Paula started stuttering even more than before and for once I had to agree:

"Her? But she's awful at this! Look at how she does her own face!"

"I'm sure she'll do a very good job." The Nurse tried to be nice, while Yakko sat next to me, muttering:

"Oh great. Now the entire cast's gonna end up looking like circus freaks… and I was THIS close to getting Minerva's number!"

"But Plotz hates me! He keeps saying that if anyone so much as glances at my face, he'd die on the spot out of sheer horror! Or get scarred for life! And the director keeps sending me those e-mails with plastic surgeon websites! How would they-" Copycat was cut off by the Nurse, who flipped her hair back:

"I DID say it was extremely hard. Most of them didn't want you around the lot, at all, but… one of the writers stood up for you and managed to talk them into it."

"A writer? Who?" was the teenage girl's next question, but the Nurse shrugged her shoulders:

"I didn't get his name, but… see, when he was a kid, he had an… accident. He has one glass eye, ever since childhood, so he knows how hard life can be and how cruel people sometimes are, so… he claimed that anyone deserved a way to make a living. After I left, I overheard him going on, but the main thing is, whatever he said, you got the job."

Paula blinked at this, while me and Yakko shared a worried look. I really didn' want everyone looking like clowns on there, how would I work?

"…just as long as she keeps off my sis' face, fine by me." Yakko finally concluded, then pat a seat next to himself "C'mon, eat up and-"

"Oh, and as for a place to stay…" Hello Nurse suddenly remembered, but Paula cut her off:

"N-no, uh-huh, no, I don't wanna live with anyone again, ever, ever! I'll keep to my car and-"

"... they found you a room at the homeless shelter, so until you make a paycheck-"

"H-ho…wh…with…but…" the tinier female turned green and seemed on the verge of fainting. Yakko arched an eyebrow at this, trying to somehow smooth things up, in his own way, I guess:

"Hey, with all those hobos and such… you really think they'd look better than you? Doubt they'll be so judgmental, now, will ya just –"

"S-so many people… no, no, no! My car it is, and I'll be fine!" Paula insisted, raising her head high and throwing her hair back, showing a hint of pride "But, I, eh…" she suddenly remembered what was going on and smiled at the Nurse "….thank you so, so much…"

"I really had no choice. I just wouldn't feel right leaving a little girl out on the streets." Hello Nurse turned on her heels and walked over to the exit "I'll see you on Monday, then!"

"B-bye…" Copycat gulped, while me and Yakko both chimed in, blowing a few kisses the blonde's way. Finally, my brother turned to our guest, almost desperate:

"NOW can we eat?"

"I'm gonna go now." Paula brushed ahead of us, patting Dot on the head "You take care of that voice! You sing so beautifully."

"You're not even gonna stay for breakfast?" I questioned, while Copycat suddenly turned around and grabbed me, hugging me as tightly as she could. I was so surprised, I didn't even hug back, but she kept squeezing anyway:

"Thank you so much for everything you did last night! You're the greatest friend I've ever had!" I was confused, since I barely did anything. It was Yakko who did all the work and I could see it written on his face that he felt almost…appalled. He did try very hard and if it was any other situation, I'd jump in and defend him… but since I wanted her to stop thinking about him as quickly as possible, I did a variation of both:

"W-well… Yakko helped out a lot too, y'know, but…-"

"Thank you!" with one final squeeze, Paula jumped in glee, then rushed to the tower exist "I have a job, I have a job!"

After she left, the three of us just sat at the table, sharing confused, but somewhat relieved looks. Things seemed to go downhill all the time recently, and what just happened really made no sense to either of us, but…

Well…

Don't look at me, I still can't figure it out, but its better if I don't. At least Paula was happy, even for a lil while.

"Honestly?" Yakko spoke up, finally, after all the staring and blinking "I have no idea why I even bother or try."

I grinned and just turned to Dot:

"Pass the syrup?"


	6. Chapter 6

Contrary to popular belief, though, on Monday, Paula proved everyone wrong, including me, showing a great sense of style and beauty. Sure, she was rough around the edges and a rookie, but the styling team was nice enough to give her tips… even if some were anything but polite, but let's not go there.

She had a unique style and did things with fabric and colors I couldn't imagine anyone, much less her, could. Paula still couldn't sew by hand; but was catching on on how to use a sewing machine and only stung her fingers four times.

She did the make-up exactly as told and asked for, took some of the "divas" bullshit in a rather calm way and cheerfully, and steadily, began to learn her first ever successful skill.

Even Yakko seemed somewhat impressed and actually let her powder Dot's face and curl her lashes. Coming from a guy who attacked a previous artist with a huge mallet, just because they accidentally poked Dot in the eye with mascara, it was a lot!

I hung out with her during breaks, in-between scenes on set, afterwards, and things couldn't seem to go nicer. It had just been a week when I found out that she was, in fact, living in her car and she invited me to check it out.

"…so, parents outta the question?" I asked her, scooping inside, though I was impressed. Her backseat was turned into a tiny bed, she had a radio inside and a small TV, her clothes were in a huge briefcase on top of the back-seat. At the front, Paula had saved a few packs of chips and a can of Pepsi –I guess, she did fairly alright, with such a limited condition. Still, one would ponder… a lot of things, but firstly, let me say, the thought of her living in some old piece of junk made me uneasy. She was making an alright pay now, but hardly enough for an actual place and I honestly had no clue where to put her. We really didn't have room in the tower and I felt very, very ashamed.

"Oh, I changed my cell number, so they can't reach me. Don't really wanna talk to them." Paula claimed, then grinned "Look! I even managed to clean the windows and I sealed the baggage trunk shut; no one's getting in or out. Life's just going awesome! I love this job and I can't thank Rose enough for helping me get it!"

"Faboo! But, you can't stay here, what if –"

"I even made a friend, well, sorta… this very pretty blonde girl gave me some of the clothes she doesn't use." Copycat gestured to her current outfit; a long-sleeved purple top and a wavy black skirt "AND Plotz said, I can actually dub some of the voices again, too. And-"

"Wait, too much information, too fast!" I paused, raising my hand, while Paula laughed:

"Sorry little buddy!"

"I'm glad you made a friend… and, uh, you do other voices on Animaniacs, besides Dot's?" I questioned, curious. Paula just nod her head and went on:

"AND they're asking me to dub in that ninja turtle show, for a few episodes. Apparently one of the turtles has throat flu or something… he'll be ok in no time, but I'm just so happy, they're paying me awesomely, too!"

"Uhm, Paula… wait!" I had to grasp my head, she was talking too fast and it was all too much new information. She zipped her lips, while I took a breath to comment:

"That's… a nice outfit-"

"Oh, thank yo-"

"I said, please wait!" I gave her a pained expression, I was glad she was happy and talkative, but I had too much comments and questions and we could stay there for days without actually getting to any of my points "Who'd ya make friends with? And who do you dub on our show?"

"I…. think her name was Katie. And when I said friends, I meant… just a nice person, we didn't share secrets, go to the mall or even exchange last names. She just let me have them, so… I did! We're the same size so they fit fine." Paula answered "As for your other question-"

"You mean Katie Ka-Boom? But she's nuts! I thought she'd kill you if you ever got near her!" I blurted out, but quite honestly, was afraid of the day Katie and Paula would meet. Copycat seemed a bit uneasy, then twitched her fingers around like little worms, before finally answering in a warm, yet shy note:

"…Wakko, Katie's mute."

"….huh?"

"She was born deaf and… she CAN speak a little, but… not enough to actually… y'know, scream and give out a proper scene. I'M her voice… we never met before, but… yeah, those screams, that's me, hon. And, uhm… sometimes, they ask me to sing on Minerva's behalf, but she doesn't do it much, or when an extra female has to sing a song, me again…. That answer your questions?" Paula spoke carefully, while I blinked at her:

"….oh."

I guess that explained a lot. I flirted with Katie all the time and she always ignored me; guess everything does have a reason behind it.

"They just wanted a pretty, normal-looking teenage girl and she fit. Voicing someone isn't that big of a deal." Copycat finished off, seeming uneasy. I decided to switch from the subject and go on with the questions:

"D'ya dub anyone else? Like Rita?"

"Oh no, Rita sings amazing! Why would I? But they let me sing in choruses and be additional voices, too. That's pretty much it. I'm gonna get even more money and then I'm gonna-"

"Which turtle?" I was still curious. I was never much of a fan, but thanks to Buster and Plucky always mocking the show, I had seen some of it. Plus, their videogames were usually good.

"I…. think his name is Donatello. Not sure. One with a purple hair-band…thingy….uh, they're not exactly pleased with me, since they say I'm giving him too much attitude and making him resemble Raphael. Working on being the "nice and sweet" guy." Paula smiled, while I pondered:

"….who's Raphael?"

"I have no idea! I can't even tell them apart, if it weren't for the head-bands… but even with them, I can't remember which color is who! It's all very confusing. They're all pretty stuck up and rude, though, well, besides for this one guy, who seem very hyper and keeps yelling "Kallabunga"… I think he's a surfer. He offered me pizza once." Copycat shrugged "The other two, they're huge jerks, but you get by. I never really met that… purple one I'm voicing, but he did send me an e-mail to say thanks for helping him out."

"Pizza sounds good…" my mind trailed off, while the brunette girl just laughed:

"Not the one he offered… it had everything you can think of, besides an actual decent topping. Ok, that's a lie, it did have some ham and cheese… but there were jellybeans, and bananas, and fried pickles, a whole ton of peanut butter and… I think, for some reason, there was chocolate in it, or maybe it was just some type of sauce, I'm not sure…."

I still thought that if it were me, I'd at least taste it, since now I wondered if that sort of combination would be good. Noticing my expression, Paula laughed:

"But I'm sure that sounds delicious to you, huh?"

"Can you maybe pick up a piece for me next time he offers?" was my response and she agreed, laughing even louder:

"If he does offer, I hope I didn't offend him… I told him I was allergic to peanuts…but I think he might be ok, he seemed nice…or just takes too much sugar in his diet…"

It was nice to hear her laugh and see her smile; even if her face was, as always smudged with the worst type of make-up, it looked so sweet when she did sincerely smile. I hadn't noticed before how pretty her happiness could be.

I almost wanted to kick myself, but I had to ask and get to the point. I hated doing that, since it'd probably make her go yellow and squirm, as always, but I just had to:

"…did Martin look for you, at all? Did he at least try and send your stuff back?"

Though her smile did fade, she seemed unbothered… however, a shade of worry flashed over her features:

"Different number, remember? But… what if he sold them! Or threw them away? Shit, man! I should've at least packed before I rushed outta there!"

"No one's seen Steph around here, for weeks! You can go there and pick it up, I'll help, I'll-"

"Good riddance." Paula spewed with clear hatred "I hope she gets the plague and dies a rotting, flesh melting death!"

"…Okay." I shrugged, since I knew that was far from possible. The plague hasn't been around for a long time, `least, that's what Yakko taught me. Most likely, since me and Dot went around town and spread so many lies and rumors about her, she fled the country, since no one wanted to be around her anymore. My sis came up with most of them, she said girls knew how to hurt other girls best. I just wanted to tell everyone she was secretly fat, but Dot handled it much better.

She got her voice back, too, you know. It's still not recommended for her to sing much, but she's the same ole Dot once more. We were all happy for her; everyone was, since everyone genuinely loved Dot. Paula herself seemed pleased to a surprising extent, which she once explained:

"I felt very guilty when I dubbed her voice, so I'm glad I'll never, ever do that again. No one can replace Dot, or her sound! I felt like mold. "

"As for Martin, I don't wanna go there and face him… I'm… scared." Paula admitted "I don't know why, but I am and… fine, he can burn, sell, trash my stuff and laugh behind my back with whoever he wants, just as long as I don't have to see him…"

"Ok!" I brightened up a bit, an idea came to mind "I'll go there, I can sneak in and I'll get your stuff for ya. No prob!" it felt like the least I could do, like I said before… I was a comfort to her, but it was my brother who did everything when it counted.

Her smile returned and for a second, I thought she was gonna hug me again. That didn't happen, apparently, her shyness had come back, job or no job, but she did tell me:

"You're the best! Will you, really?"

"Sure, sure! Uhm, I might need some help with the heavy stuff, but… hey, I have a bag with all sorts of stuff to help me lift. It'll be right back to you before you even know it." I grinned proudly, sticking my tongue out. Finally, a chance to feel useful in this whole messy story.

"Thank you! If there's anything I can do to return the favor, just lemme know!" Copycat beamed at me, while I considered:

"Weeeeeelll…. Couple of things, really…"

"All ears, little man."

"Could ya… tell me where to drop the stuff off? `Cause it'd just stink if I left it somewhere and it got… lost, or stolen…" I trailed off, hoping she'd catch my hint. She didn't.

"Uhm, right here by my car is fine. I'll give you the keys, just stick `em inside an-"

"I don' want you livin' in a car!" I finally blurted out "I can't believe you have, for a week, even! I mean, you look so clean, but-"

"Why thank you!" she flushed slightly, but I rumbled at her:

"That wasn' a compliment, you also look tired, and yellow and too thin. And where do you even clean yourself up, or shower or… uhm… y'know!"

"…well you try sleeping in a backseat and see how healthy you'll look!" Paula frowned, offended, then went on "I use public bathrooms, for your information, and I can wash my hands and face there, also, do my make-up. Change clothes inside here, I make sure to cover the car top when I do…."

"What about showers? I know you're doin' great at all these jobs, but have you really not… for a week?" that seemed disgusting, then I looked at her hair "And your hair, it's perfectly clean! Do you wash it in bathrooms, too?"

"…no! I shower two times a day, I just, eh… well, I "borrow" Chicken Boo's…. window every now and then and… well, use her shower. AND I brush my teeth after every meal, I can do that in the car, y'know, I just-"

"Don't wanna know! That's gross! And illegal and ….that's just not right…" I shook my head at her, then froze for a second "…you called Boo a "she"…"

"Well she's an asshole! Just cause she's a lesbian doesn't mean that everyone wants her and that she has to go around saying she'd never, ever date me, how ugly I am, how no one would sleep with such a hideous dyke, how-"

"…Boo's a girl?"

"Uhm… Wakko… isn't it obvious? "You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man, you're a chicken, Boo…" ….dude, your show has a lot more than a few hidden "innuendo" jokes…" suddenly, Paula clasped her mouth shut "Don't ever tell your brother I swore in front of you. He'll kill me. He'll have a rain of anvils fall on my head faster than you can say "aardvark"."

I shook it off, too much, too much for just one day! And I was barely ten years old!

"You can't break into someone's house and use their shower, that's illegal! H-…s-…. The chicken can have you arrested!"

"….it's not like Boo uses it, chickens never go under a shower, it's just there, for show, and-"

"Not. Right. Look, just… please, you wanna get cleaned up… come to the tower anytime, alright? Why didn' you even ask me?" I crossed my arms, as she pat the front seat, gesturing for me to sit closer to her:

"….I thought it'd be rude."

"This is ten times ruder, no matter what anyone's told you!" angered, I turned my head away and stared out the window "You'll… just…"

"Well what can I do?" Copycat seemed saddened "I still can't afford a place…"

"Leave this stupid car and find ANYTHIN', anythin' at all!" I frowned, but she remained stubborn:

"Nope, I won't."

Feeling myself getting furious, I half-hissed:

"Fine. `Least come to the tower and don't go sneaking in people's houses or public bathrooms… `least promise that, or I'll get really mad and I won' even try to get your stuff back…"

"Ok, ok….uhmm… but that'd just be weird!" Paula backed off, while I yelled:

"Weird? You're living in a car!"

She went silent, apparently frightened off by me screaming at her. I quickly moved closer and raised my hands up, toning my voice down:

"I'm sorry! But if I lived in a car, wouldn't you get angry?"

"I'd beat you senseless with your awesome red cap." Copycat pointed out, seeming relaxed for the moment "I just, it's… YOUR house. You're my friend and –"

"Which is why you shoulda came to me first. Aren't we friends? I felt like all this time I've just been following you around like a pet so you can use me as a tissue. Can't you ask me for one tiny favor, ever?"

Looking away, her cheeks flushed and she began pulling on her hair, nervously. Finally, she spoke up:

"I… never really had a friend before. I thought I did, I had people around at school, we hung out, had nights out, everything… but no one's cared, like you do and… you're my only friend. I'm too… embarrassed to ask anything. I feel like I don't even deserve you caring 10%!"

I stared at her, feeling at a loss of words myself. Looking down and locking my hands together, all I could say was:

"Oh…"

"Y-yeah…"

It took several minutes before we could finally look at each other, eye to eye, and resume talking:

"But… you'll still come, right? I'll give you signs! We can make up our own signal system, I'll keep Yakko away from the tower and you can come in and clean up and everything… you won't have to worry about him, at all! And Dot… well… you like `er, right?... I mean, she doesn' like you THAT much, but she won' mind…she's really nice and when you get to know her-"

"She helped me with a few outfits yesterday. She's a sweetie." Paula gave me a smile, then nod her head "Alright, if you insist… just… call me up, whenever the tower's empty. I promise, I won't do anything illegal again…"

"Promise?"

"Promise! Would I lie to you?" she arched an eyebrow, while I honestly replied:

"Yep."

Copycat frowned, but flicked the side of my hat playfully anyway. We both knew she lied to me all the time, but I believed that she would do what I asked of her, so I grinned once more.

"….still stickin' to the car, though?"

"Until I collect enough money, and I will." Paula said, completely sure of herself "I mean, those turtle people… are offering a huge stash just for a few episodes! They must really be famous….plus, since they found out I can imitate this Dona…uhm…purple dude, I'm getting offers left and right! Disney won't stop asking me to sing for some of their shows and movies. They give tons of cash, too. Plus, this styling gig… so far, I'm on a newbie salary, but if I learn to do it well enough, cha-ching, babes."

"I dunno, Paula… what if someone… sleeping in your car, what if someone hurts you, here?" I reached a hand out to her, which she didn't seem to notice:

"It's fine. I'll…. Camouflage it… make it all dirty and yucky, so no one will wanna come near it." She assured me, that did seem like a good plan. I was still worried, though.

Speaking of plans, I remembered my own. Keeping her mind and putty heart off my brother's womanizing ways:

"Say, there's another thing I want ya to do for me!"

"What?"

"C'mon!" I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her outside of the vehicle so quickly, she barely had time to lock it up and turn on its siren. I practically ran with her trough Burbank, well, I ran and she stumbled, pretty much wiping the streets with her new pair of purple shoes:

"…thanks, I always wanted a pair with no bottom lining. And heels, who needs heels? Holes are in, baby…"

"Hey miss!" ignoring my friend, I stopped a by-passing pretty lady and waved her over "Helloooo nurse!"

The lady turned around, I think she recognized me, but she didn't seem to gush or act bothered; if anything, she seemed confused:

"Can I help you?"

She was a tall grey wolf with long wavy hair and a very curly tail, nice body, bright green eyes and matching green clothes. Paula stared at us both, apparently creeped out by the thought that I was gonna set her up again:

"Don't YOU DARE!" the brunette hissed, but I played deaf once more:

"S'cuse me, will it be ok if I took a picture with ya?"

"W-what…?" the wolf girl stared at me, now looking bothered. I felt that I was falling into the "creeper weirdo" zone and tried to smooth it over:

"Yer just so pretty!... I just wanted a picture…" that would've worked for Yakko, maybe, but I decided to go for a different direction. Bowing my head down and embracing the image of a shy, innocent little boy, I awaited an expected slap over the face.

Instead, the wolf lady cooed and pat my head:

"Awww, aren't you sweet! Sure you can! What a cute little boy!"

"Really? Fabooo! Hey, can my friend be in the picture, too?" I pushed Paula next to her, who almost knocked both of them down, then pretty much shrieked:

"What the crud are you doing?"

"I really, really wanted a picture of my friend, then I saw you, so… if it's ok… I'll take your guys picture, then she can take one of us two." I bargained with the wolf-lady, who seemed puzzled:

"Uhm…alright?"

"Cheese!" pulling out a tiny camera out of my gag-bag, I shifted my head to the side "Paula, smile, and stop looking like you're about to murder the nice lady… be happy, doncha like `er?"

Paula blushed a crimson red, while the wolf-lady seemed even more confused, but kept to herself.

"Hey, what's your name, lady?" I asked, while Copycat was trying to avoid even looking at the other female

"…Tatyana…" was the answer

"That's a really nice name! Can you two just get closer together, and help `er out, she's kinda shy…" I asked, and Tatyana just shrugged, then leaned next to Paula, who seemed like she was about to die. I frowned at her and Copycat finally faced the other girl, leaned closer and forced a smile, although still having no clue what was going on.

"Perfect!" I snapped the picture and Paula rushed far, far away, practically hiding behind me "Oh, now I can take the picture… here, you shoot, Pau…"

After all the snapping was done, we parted ways with Tatyana, who even gave me a small kiss on the cheek, claiming I was the cutest boy she ever saw. Grinning wildly, I hid my camera, however, I still had an angry friend who hardly felt as hostile to me as the pretty grey girl:

"What. Was. That." Paula hissed, turning me around by the shoulders roughly "Setting me up again? I DO NOT want another Steph, thank you and I just wish you would stop-"

"No! I won' even ever see `er again. I just wanted a picture of two super cute girls, I was gonna take yours first, but then I figured, why not make it double?" I lied, but compliments always throw you off. Girls like them, so it's easy to believe; `sides, I wasn't EXACTLY lying… I did need TWO cute girls, I just didn't tell her why.

"Why?" I was hoping she wouldn't ask, now I HAD to lie:

"…well, I just… wanted a cute picture. She seemed cute. I like hanging pictures on my wall, y'know…"

"Of complete strangers?" Copycat didn't buy it one bit, but I shrugged:

"You said you'd do me a favor. I wanted your picture and a picture of a very pretty lady next to you, so I can look at you both and think nice things about you… and next time you feel unhappy about how you look, show you that you're just as pretty as the lady." I was gonna do that too, but I technically lied again, since that was hardly the reason I wanted that picture.

"….if you wanted something so cute, why didn't you just take shots of Dot?"

"I see `er everyday, why'd I need a set of pictures? I have a whole bunch of `em in our living room, anyway! And… she hates sharing pictures with other girls, plus… I can't compare you to my own sister, can I?" lies, lies, lie… Dot never had a problem with sharing photoshoots with anyone. Paula was still hesitant to believe me, then just shrugged her shoulders:

"I give up. You're one weird cookie, you know that?"

"You're pretty weird, too."

"I know, but I don't ask beautiful people I don't know to take pictures with my friends…" she muttered, heading back to her car, while I followed, chuckling:

"You should! It's fun!"

Phase one was complete. Once we got back in the car, I bought us a whole pack of sandwiches and we ate, listening to old rock songs on her radio:

"Yakko's bein' a pain…" I pretended to sigh, while Paula looked over to me, immediately:

"What? Why?"

"I didn' wanna hurt your feelins, but he keeps making me angry. I wish he'd just cut it out, I wish you'd just punch `im!" I started my false tirade, which made her grown even more weary:

"…what is he saying about me? What? How many ugly jokes are there in this world?"

"Tons, comin' from him, at least… he says you have a crush on me and that you made the entire Steph thing up, everything, Martin, the "no-place to live"… just so you can get in our tower and… uhm… do something to me, but he didn' tell me what, exactly-"

Paula's face turned clear read; I never, ever saw her face seem that twisted and scary. Clutching her fists and cracking her knuckles, it almost looked like foam was about to come pouring down her mouth; that didn't happen, but she screeched in a deep, raspy voice:

"Go on."

"Uhm…" I wondered if I had taken it too far "H-he says he'd never let me date you, since you're too ugly, even if I were your age and finds this whole… `eh, everythin'… just disgustin'… also, he tells everyone you take drugs, cause he claims you can't be THAT pale on your own…"

"Oh that little… is that… he…I'm gonna…"

"I just want him to stop. I dunno why he's bein' so nasty. It's not like `im." I finished off, but regret everything I had said immediately, since she rushed outside, fuming, blood red, her hair and hands spiraling around her, giving her a look of a clinically insane person:

"Where is he? I'm gonna brake him in half! That little freak! That disgusting, sick, twisted pervert!"

I quickly followed; I really didn't want my brother getting beaten up over things he never even said:

"W-wait! He's my brother, you can't-"

"Oh, watch me!"

"He-he's just… in love with someone else, that's all! That's why he's sayin' those things, he doesn' mean `em!" I tried to keep up pace with her, but apparently, if she wanted to, she ran very, very fast. Even on high-heels.

"Oh that's just peachy, isn't it." Sparkles flew trough Paula's eyes as she head over to the breakfast deli, right across our tower, where she knew we all loved going most mornings, to get nice food (and check out cute waitresses, too); but mostly, the food was good.

"It's… uhhh… Fifi le Fume, he says, she's the prettiest girl in purple he'd ever seen and-"

Paula stopped dead in her tracks, apparently, it was all too much. She noticed her own purple shirt, touched the streaks in her hair, her eyes seemed to moist… however the embarrassment seemed to overcome her hurt ego and pride, while I gulped, trying to hold her back:

"Please, I'm sorry! Don' listen to me, I wasn' bein' completely honest, he never-"

"Don't you cover for him anymore!" Copycat threw her hair back, as she always did, standing strong and tall. Entering the café, much to my bad luck, Yakko was there, talking to some girl, I recognized her as Shirley the Loon, from Tiny Toon Adventures. She was giggling about something and Yakko was being… well, Yakko, though I couldn't say if he was flirting or not. For all I know, they could've been laughing at Plucky's attempts to flirt with Hello Nurse, who, even though she liked him, was rightfully giving him the cold shoulder.

"YOU!" Paula practically screamed, rushing over to Yakko and grabbing him by the neck. Before my brother could say much, she punched him straight in the nose, screaming so loud that everyone turned around to stare:

"YOU TWISTED, DISGUSTING PERVERT! PIG! WHORE! HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOU? YOU THINK I FAKED IT? JUST BECAUSE YOU'D FUCK ANYTHING THAT WALKS, I FAKED IT TO GET IN YOUR BROTHER'S LOVELY SHIRT?"

Before Yakko could even defend himself, or anyone could do any sort of action, since she was yelling and moving so incredibly fast, Paula punched him once more, this time in the eye, kicked his jaw and threw him aside, ending with:

"I HATE YOU! I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN AND IF YOU EVER GO BEHIND MY BACK AGAIN, I'LL CHOP YOUR EYES OFF AND MAKE YOU GULP THEM DOWN IN A BOWL OF YOUR OWN SPLATTERED KIDNEY!"

Turning on her heels, Copycat just walked away, throwing me an un-clarified look:

"I'll see you later, Wakko, sorry I hurt your brother, but he can't fill your head with such disgusting thoughts. Call me when he's not around." Then left, while I rushed to pick my poor brother up:

"Yakko! Are you alright?"

"What the….alright, what the Hell was that all about?" he tried to scream, but it came out as a gasping screech. He also forgot how disapproving he was of curse words, apparently, as he tried to get back on his feet "This girl's nuts! What the Hell was she even talking about? Who walks in and beats up someone for just… what…I'm gonna-"he tried to chase after her, but I held him back:

"It's not her fault!"

"She's crazy! Don't you ever go near her again, ever, you hear me?"

"Yakko, listen… it's… I told you, she hates you and you keep making her mad. Of course she's gonna blow a fuse eventually!" I defended, avoiding my own fault in all of this. Stumbling on top of a chair, my brother tried to adjust his chin, while Shirley awkwardly walked away, turning a light pink from the whole scene. Trying to catch his breath, our family smarty wanted to find reason:

"….nope, she's nuts. That's it, no wonder that Martin guy kicked her out. You keep away, and I'm gonna-"

"You made her mad!"

"With what? What did I even do?" he wanted to know, but I hardly knew how to explain. An idea struck me, once more:

"….you know Mark, The Mime? He said you said she faked being sick so she could get in our tower, just to come see you. She thinks you're full of yourself and that you think she's madly in love with you and when he told her that you said those things… she was about to cry, you didn't… tell him she was posing, did ya…?" The Mime was gonna get it, but he had it coming. No one calls my friend ugly! He does that everyday, and I'm running out of mallets and anvils…sorry, Mark…

"…what? I…I never said that!" Yakko's eyes grew huge, while I just shrugged, as a waitress brought us a huge pack of ice for his face:

"Mark told `er you did and that made `er feel awful. That's why she punched you…"

"Is this true? That little circus creep said that?" my brother placed the ice on his jaw, then hissed in pain. I looked away, but he was far from thinking clearly at the moment to notice I was lying… usually, he read me like a book… however, once you get your face re-arranged, the stings of someone's fists can be a distraction.

"That little… I'm gonna kill him…" Yakko finally concluded, then tried to take a deep breath "And her… I KNOW she hates me, I never once thought she liked me, at all… she treats me like dirt all the time! All I tried was to ask her out, now I regret even finding out her name…. I bought this on myself, I should've never teased her just because she dubbed Dot's voice… great… I got beat up by a girl, wait `till it spreads around…"

"….some think she's a guy." I tried to comfort him, but that didn't make him feel better:

"I'm gonna kill Mark, and as for her… I'll talk things out, and if she DOES turn out to be some crazy person, then you, dear sib-"

"Just leave `er alone, she's very hurt!" I insisted, while the oldest Warner pointed to his face:

"She's hurt? Exqueeze me? I just hope I won't need an eye-patch now…"

"….`s your funeral." I shrugged, and stood by him, until the swelling came down. Afterwards, I noticed he took a different direction, opposite of our tower, without an explanation. Feeling like a stalker yet again, I followed quietly, knowing full well he was searching for Paula. I knew he'd never hit a girl, but I just hope she wouldn't end up hitting him again… this wasn't what I wanted…

My plans never work out. Why is that? Ugh, this is really unfair…!

It took me a while to catch up to his pace and find him, though. What I saw was him and Copycat, under a chestnut tree, apparently, talking. I hid in a huge pile of grass and observed, this time, if it came to violence, I WAS gonna stop it.

"….it's not true. That creep might've told you some lies, but I never, ever considered something like THAT…." Yakko was talking, while she was leaning on the tree, looking confused:

"….how can you call HIM a creep?"

"He is! With that white face, what'd you call him? Little Mime-boy…" Yakko muttered, while Paula's eyes grew wide with surprise:

"How can you be so horrible? Your face is just as white! How can you say that about your own-"

"Look, whatever he said-"

"He's not a creep! And you're a terrible human being… eh… puppy…" Copycat tried to move away, but my brother threw his hands on top of the tree, surrounding her without actually making physical contact, but not allowing her to move:

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were such good buddies…look, as I was trying to-"

"We ARE! And that's all we are, now will you move your little toothpick hands, I just wanna-"

"…well, I never thought you were anything more, I mean, he's…. y'know, strange…" Yakko looked away, while Paula blinked at him:

"Excuse me?"

"Let's just say… I do have proof that your friend Martin doesn't like girls, he and-"

"WHAT?"

I felt like it was my time to come out and confess, but at this point, Yakko had figured it out:

"We're not talking about the same person, are we?..."

"….I really hope not…" Paula looked like she was about to lose her lunch "Since I always thought you were a great big brother…"

"…wait. You're… who ARE you talking about?"

"Uhm… your brother? Who are YOU?" she seemed more than confused, while Yakko now seemed sickish too:

"Wakko? I was talking about Mark, The Mime! I'd never call any of my siblings a bad name or…ughhh, great… now I need brain-bleach…how'll I ever get that image off my head? Take off your top, I need something to look at, anything, really…."

"Then go stare at Fifi!" Paula snapped, but then her gaze changed. Puzzled, she turned to him "But… why are you talking about The Mime?"

"Because he spreads nasty rumors? He told you all those things that made you punch my face off today; why would I be talking about Wakko?" my brother stared at her as if she were retarded; by now, I was sure he really did find her crazy. Completely mixed-up, Copycat answered:

"…. Because Wakko told me today?"

"He told you? He told me The Mime said it! Did he… lie to me?" Yakko let his hands fall loose; this wasn't turning out good for me at all. By the end of it all, everyone would hate me, except maybe for Dot, who'd just say "I told you so"… why do I keep getting myself in trouble?

"…I dunno, maybe… The Mime told him?" Paula tried to cover me up, but mostly, I knew she just didn't want to believe I was a liar in the first place. I understand why; but I was doing it for a good cause! She'd thank me in the future, when I finally do tell her everything, from top to bottom.

That is, if I survive the night, after my brother corners me and makes me spill my entire autobiography.

"…I'll have a talk with him tonight." Knew it. Great. Now I need to figure out even more plans and back-ups… why did I lie in the first place? A lie is like a shred, or a piece of DNA… once you make one, more and more twist around it and continue it, and it seems like it'll never end….

"Look, no matter what anyone said –it's not true, I never spoke a word against you and I DO know you hate me. I know you don't like me. I never went around saying you did, it never crossed my mind that you'd do all that, just to get in our tower, since it took me so much just to keep you in there, anyway. I have no problem with you, I don't dislike you, and you're welcome to come visit anytime you want. That's it. AND I do like you, you know, but it's obvious you don't want me, so, just….let's scratch everything and at least…try and be friends? Or are you gonna break my neck now, just for offering…" he was probably kidding, but seemed weary. Paula's mind couldn't process all the things he said that fast, so she just repeated:

"You… like me?"

"Yeah, I kinda… have been, for a while now, but hey, forget about it. Can't I at least be someone you can be comfortable around? Maybe catch a flick sometime? I'm not asking for a kiss here, or some steamy pink romance, just to get along." Yakko huffed and ruffled his ears, hoping this would end a lot quicker. With Paula however, things took a lot of time.

"….but Wakko said you thought I was ugly. That you're dating another girl. I don't get it, do you… what do you like, I don't get this, and I'm just… I give up…" Copycat started walking away, while sighing deeply "Sorry I hit you so much, I don't know or what to believe anymore, but I'm going back to my car and getting some sleep…"

"Wait. I never, ever said anything like that… I always told Wakko you were pretty and cute… alright, something doesn't add up here…" my brother now seemed more than weary, I could see he was starting to catch on on me, and… I was in trouble, big time, but he went on, anyway "I'm not dating anyone! I'm single at the moment, when I figured I can't date you, I did have a few relationships, but… I still like you."

She turned around and stared at him with horror, thinking he was playing a cruel joke on her or, even worse, giving her pity. When you're Paula Crawford, pity is the thing you hate most:

"…why would Wakko lie?"

"Maybe he misunderstood, maybe he didn't believe me, maybe it was because when I first saw you I did insult your looks, but… we said some things, we were in a fight, it can happen… oh, by the way, here…" he handed something shiny to her, at first I couldn't tell what it was, then I recognized it. It was that hideous twitchy lip-ring, which she took with hesitation "You, eh… must've dropped it in the shower. Don't wanna tell you where I had to dig to get it, but…you can still use it, it's clean, no rust, no nothing…"

Paula went speechless for a moment, before hiding it in her shirt pocket, then blurting out quietly:

"….thank you. I missed it…"

"So… friends?" Yakko tried once more, offering a hand, which Copycat took:

"…a-acquaintances, I guess…"

"Well, better than I expected." My brother grinned "So, Paulie…" he suddenly felt bubbly again and threw an arm around her small shoulders, walking with her forward "Since we're leaning towards friendship, how 'bout we go bowling tonight? I'll bring Wakko and Dot, too, and you can bring your friends… know any redheads? I've been dying to meet a cute redhead…"

Copycat's face turned dark and she threw his arm off, then gave him a deadly glare:

"No."

"Aw, well… too bad. But you can bring your friends anyway, though I'm sure I won't find any of them half as pretty as you are." There he went again, turning that ole charm. Apparently, my backfired plan… backfired right back, if that makes any sense. And I was considering coming clean, too!

I noticed Paula blush from head to toe and felt like slapping myself over the forehead. Surely, she wouldn't fall for that!

But, she did, and just managed to mutter a:

"I don't have any friends…." Very quietly, while Yakko took this as his chance to wrap his arm around her once more:

"Well, always a good time to make some. Now you'll get three…well, I'm not sure if Dot likes you, but you'll have two, at least."

As they walked ahead, I stood up from the grass and dust myself off. This was NOT working. What'd I have to do next?

I saw them parting their ways:

"So, bowling, right? I'll come pick you up, ah… address or something?"

"….I'll just give you my cell number. And yeah, bowling sounds… fun." Copycat agreed, slouching a bit, seeming very awkward and embarrassed. Yakko smirked at this and took her hand, giving it a light kiss:

"See ya tonight then, Snow!" before leaving with a huge grin plastered all over his face. He knew he was winning…and YES it was just a game… as I watched Paula drop in the grass behind him, sighing and apparently, swooning, once he was very far off sight, I could tell.

He was winning, but not for long.

And yet, there she was, sitting in that same spot for what felt like hours, just touching her hand and sighing so deeply. I wanted to walk over to her, mess everything up, but remembered…

I was in trouble, so I'd better get to the tower. I'd fix Paula up later, she'll listen to me.

….I hope.


	7. Chapter 7

Once I did go back to the tower, things seemed to go better than what I had feared.

A lot of questions were asked by both Yakko and Dot; mainly "Why, why lie?" and "What exactly happened, here?" I avoided them all perfectly and stubbornly claimed that I didn't lie. On my way back home, I had made up another genius cover-up for everything:

"I was there when The Mime told `er that… then I told her what he said, too. I'm sorry. I shouldn' `ave… I didn' mean to hurt `er, I just knew she didn't hear him, so I thought, maybe if she knew, she'd avoid him or beat him up…."

Neither of my siblings believed me one bit; Dot pretty much knew the entire story without me having to say it, so she remained silent. Yakko decided to play along:

"And you told her I call her offensive names becauuuuseeee….?"

"Because you did, when you first saw `er! So I don't believe you when you DO call her pretty. That's why." I frowned at him, then trust my head "Why do you even care, anyway?"

I could tell Yakko didn't buy one word I said, and found disappointment in his eyes, which made me feel worse than any event that had occurred ever since my meeting with the Copycat. My big brother, role model, the one who raised me… now felt disgusted since I just couldn't bring myself to say the truth.

Why couldn't I? I dunno…. I kept hurting people, everyone around me, and the truth wasn't all that bad… but I couldn't. I guess, when you create a lie, you cherish it, keep it, feed it to make it grow… and you never, ever give it up, unless it's 100% necessary.

I sneaked a look at Dot, wondering if she would rat me out; all I found her glance was disapproval and pity. Apparently, none of this made sense to her and she felt disgusted to even be a part of it. As far as I could tell, my little sister wanted out of this situation, out of the conversation, but she couldn't leave. We're the Warners, we stick together trough everything, all three of us….

"…what's gotten into you, Wakko?" my brother no longer seemed mad, now he was just…saddened? Taken aback? "You've never lied to me before… talk to me, buddy, what's going on? Help me out here! A girl beat me to a blue pulp over something I never said or did, and we still can't figure out what the truth is! What's the problem? What's bothering you so much?"

I bent my head down in shame, not managing to handle Yakko's accusing gaze any further. After a brief moment of silence, he spoke up, in a somewhat helpless voice:

"Good. I believe you. Because I know that both my siblings are wonderful, humane and beautiful. Because I know I raised people, actual human beings, not liars…."

That stung so deep, I can't put it in words… I wanted the ground to shrink below me and swallow me whole. Gulping lightly, I forced myself to look at him –but he had turned his back on me, heading for the kitchen:

"Steak and mash for tonight, sibs. Come help me, Wak, you can handle the potatoes…"

After he left the room, I sunk down on the sofa, my face growing, if possible, paler and longer… it was all to do good, I kept telling myself, while Dot scoot near me and pat my shoulder lightly:

"Why don't you just tell them both and leave them be?"

….it was words like these, advises, that made me want to keep on lying.

"He doesn't love 'er! He'll hurt 'er and-"

"Is it really more important than letting down your own brother, the person who raised you?" Dot spoke up quietly, while I felt a huge lump in my throat. Betrayal… I betrayed my own brother? But I just wanted what was good… I didn't want him to turn into one of the bad guys…. I didn't want to feel disappointed in HIM, because I needed to believe that he was the greatest, I need an idol…

If he broke Paula's heart, how would I ever look up to him again?

But…if I truly thought he was the best, why didn't I trust him?

This was all wrong and messed up, but the way I saw it, it wasn't a crime to stop something terrible from happening. They would be terrible together and I knew… so I'd keep going, and my brother….

I just hope you forgive me, if you're reading this, Yakko.

I didn't answer Dot, just followed Yakko in the kitchen, and shortly after, she came along, too. We prepared our dinner and went on as if nothing had happened, talking about random, silly things, enjoying our well made food… but as I took bite after bite, I kept wondering…

Paula was still there, in her car… or was she still in the grass, thinking about my brother? Either way, what was she having for dinner tonight? A pack of chips or a cold sandwich, left over from this morning?

Sadness filled my being… I had no clue what to do. I couldn't feel guilty over having a nice warm meal and yet, it just stopped tasting good, once I pictured her all alone in that car, feeding on cold crumbs… eventually, the food lost all taste at all and became a reflex, I was shoving it in my mouth, chewing, swallowing, and it felt like nothing.

And I love food. It's my favorite thing in the world! Looking at Yakko and Dot laughing, the lump in my throat just got bigger and I stood up, taking my plate with me:

"…I'll be right back, I just need to do somethin'"

"What's wrong? You don't like your dinner?" Yakko asked, while Dot fought back a laugh:

"Wakko, not liking his dinner? Gee, they said it would happen… that Hell'd freeze over… you just never know when it's gonna strike so you can pack an extra sweater…"

"It's fine!" I grumbled and walked away, but they both stopped me:

"What're you doing?"

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I…I don't wanna eat this! So I wanna… give it to some beggar or homeless person, so they will!" I insisted, while they shared a confused look:

"…is it that bad?" Yakko pondered, while Dot rushed over to me and whispered in my ear:

"You don't have to do this. You don't have to punish yourself. Just tell the truth, everyone will forgive you and things will be ok!"

This time, she was wrong, but I didn't wanna explain… I didn't wanna tell them both that Paula lived in her car and I couldn't do a single thing about it.

"….I wanna eat something else, I'll just have a hot dog instead. See ya." I muttered, then exit the tower, leaving them both puzzled and I think I overheard Yakko saying:

"But it was the best meat in the market! Just because he said a few lies he's gonna starve himself now? Not gonna happen, not on my watch…."

"I'm not sure what's going on with our brother…" Dot spoke up, taking a bite of her own potatoes "He's always been… a little weird, but now…"

"He's never, ever acted this way. I mean, everyone lies, but why would he? I don't get it, sister sibling, I really don't…I give up, but if Paula comes at me with a knife next time, I'm moving all three of us to Argentina…"

"…I hear the weather's nice over there, though."

I ignored the rest of the conversation and went down the stairs, carefully adjusting the plate of food on my right hand. Walking over to the parking lot as fast as I could, so the food wouldn't get cold, I saw the car –it WAS covered in mud, trash and dirty grass- but that didn't stop me from recognizing it, it had those cracks at the top. Approaching, I knocked on the front window carefully and took a peek… Paula was inside, lying flat on her back, with an open notebook in her hands a bunch of markers shattered around… she was drawing something, more like scribbling, playing with the colors… was it a rainbow, or some galaxy, or just a world of fireflies, I couldn't tell… but when she heard my knocking, she instantly dropped on the car bottom, expecting some foe.

"Paula! It's me!" I called out, still holding the plates steadily "…are ya mad at me?"

I heard a deep sigh of relief, as Copycat opened the backseat car door and let me in, then locked it, as I entered:

"Hey kiddo…" she greeted me, a little too nice, considering she probably also thought I was a liar. Or maybe she believed me… Paula was always so naïve… or wanted to, since she didn't want her best friend to be a liar…

It's for a good cause, I kept telling myself. They'd both thank me, just you wait a few months… with that in mind, I managed to give her my usual friendly smile:

"…whacha doin'?" I asked, looking at her sketchbook; the pale girl shrugged:

"Killing time and scribbling. I was trying to see what I could do with every color… how they'd all look randomly splattered around…well, I'm no artist…" I glanced at the painting, it looked like a huge explosion in the sky… like fireworks… she blushed a bit and shoved the notebook away:

"So, what's up?"

"I brought you some dinner… it's prolly a little cold by now, but…" I handed the plate to her "I didn' touch it much! I promise, and-"

"Wakko! No, how could you!" Paula seemed shocked by the mere thought "I can't accept this!"

"But Pau-"

"You're not gonna starve yourself on my sake and I have plenty to eat, so… no." she threw her head back stubbornly and her lips twisted lightly. I placed the plate in her lap and poked her shoulder:

"I have plenty to eat in the tower, too! Please, just take it…"

"I can't, this isn't fair! And it's humiliating, too… I know you're being so very kind, but, I can't take the food from your mouth-"

"How `bout we share it, then?" I decided to compromise "In equal halves. And next time, you'll treat me to something! I just wanted you to eat somethin' nice, I would've invited you to dinner, but…-"

"Lemme guess, Yakko hates me, right?" Copycat claimed ironically, before sighing deeply "I don't know what's going on, little man, but I'm afraid you'll end up regretting… whatever you're doing…"

No I wasn't! Stop making sense, everyone!

"….I just wanna have dinner with you, us two. I should've gotten more food…" I pondered, then an idea struck me "After, we can just go out and buy more! That's ok, right? We'll both chip in and-"

Paula cut the steak in two pieces, then separated the mashed potatoes and the side salad, after, she handed me the knife:

"I only have one fork, but I can give you a spoon for the salad…"

"That's ok! I can eat without a fork, I usually do, anyway." I grinned and she just chuckled, then turned more music on. More rock, and we had our dinner, though I made sure she ate a lot more than I did:

"Was it good? I helped with the salad." I stuck my chest out proudly, while Paula laughed even harder:

"Best meal I ever had… thank you, Wakko… but I'm gonna have to repay you now, buddy, so, you're taking a piece of my belongings and that's that…"

I thought for a moment, then shoved a pack of chips in her lap, encouraging her to eat more. She was rather skinny at that moment:

"….I want that drawing."

"Huh?"

"That thing with the markers. I want it. Can I have it?" I questioned, while Copycat lift up her notebook and looked at me questionably:

"You mean the one I was just dribbling, before you came over?"

"Yep, that one. I want it." I claimed, while Paula shrugged, tore the notebook page from it's core and handed it to me with no seeming regret:

"No clue why….but ok. You can have it. Want the markers, too?"

"I like it." I said simply and that was that. Folding it carefully, I slipped it under my hat and turned to her "Hey, wanna-"

Just then, her cell-phone rang and she raised a finger to silence me, then picked up:

"Hello? Oh, hey!... Yeah, I'm free, but… uhm… I'm gonna need time… look, let's leave it for tomorrow night, ok? That good with you? Awesome. Tomorrow night it is, then. Bye." Paula hung up, after which looked over to me "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Who was that?" I asked, though I already knew the answer

"Just someone asking if I wanted to go bowling; but I hardly can, right now, I'd need to make myself look decent…so, what'd you want to do?"

Gritting my teeth slightly, I tried to hide my annoyance; he was good, he was really, really smart. Instead of turning spiteful this time, however, I smiled brightly:

"…wanna go for nachos, then walk around by the bridge and talk about wrestling?"

"…..you hate wrestling."

"But you don't!"

Eventually, we did get nachos; we did walk around the town until very late, then went back in her car and talked about anything that came to mind. She went fast asleep around midnight and all I could do was stare in pure gloat; her face was clear, smiling and calm, her belly was slightly bulged now, from all the food –she was full and happy, cuddling with her sheets and covers. I decided that maybe it was time I head back to my own home, before Yakko and Dot went crazy with worry (which they were by now, believe me), but as I stared at the little picture she gave me, I found myself trying to figure out what exactly it could be. Was it a rainbow? Or a very colorful bridge? Maybe a giant spaghetti monster, or a laser, or some alien ship, or…

I didn't notice my own eyes growing heavy and I myself becoming very tired. Hiding the picture once more, I crumbled at the side of the backseat, mumbling something of the sort:

"Hey, Paula?"

"….mhmmphhh…"

"I'm sorry…."

I had no clue what I was saying, and I was sure she didn't even hear me, but I reached out and touched her hand –ice cold- then trembled, stuttering:

"Can I touch you?...Why're you so cold?..."

She clutched my hand and the rest is pretty much darkness. I fell asleep right there, with thoughts of why her skin was so cold, why was she so pale, why so alone, why so scared, why can't I help…

I woke up early in the morning, way before her, noticed I had crumbled myself in her lap, as she lay completely still, sleeping like a baby. Not wanting to wake her up, I pondered on how to leave the car, since I was sure it was locked, and-

-….oh no.

NOW Yakko was gonna kill me, and rightfully so.

I was out all night and my siblings had probably gone sick with worry. I had to go back, immediately, and explain everything; but how to get out, what to do now, I had no choice…

"Paul? Wake up, unlock the doors, I gotta get h-"

Copycat didn't move an inch, well, she turned around and muttered something in her dream, but a loud thud was heard from behind and, despite her claims that she had fixed and sealed it well, the baggage trunk opened once more.

"Knew you'd be here." Yakko peeked inside, huffed lightly and shook his head at the entire scene "Why didn't you tell me she had no place to stay…?"

"I don' wanna wake `er up! Can't we talk outside?"

We both crawled out of her car and shut the trunk once more; Yakko placed a couple of rocks on top of it, just in case, then turned to me:

"You had me worried sick! You couldn't at least call?"

"….you made me mad." I told him, and at that point, he slapped both hands over his face:

"You're a lot alike, you and Paula. I keep making you mad, without even doing anything! You know Dot hasn't slept all night, worrying over you?"

"….I'm sorry." I admitted, and I truly was "I am…I shoulda called… I lost track of time and…-"

"I hope you're getting better at spelling, since I have a few nice words for you to learn. "Grounded" and "chores". And you apologize to your sister immediately, the second we go back home!" the eldest of us went on, and I grumbled in annoyance, though I knew I deserved it:

"I wanted to help out a friend! Whaddaya mean grounded?"

"No video games for two weeks, and you're not leaving the tower after dark, not without me. Also, I'm seeing into the future here… I see our bedroom clean and spotless, kitchen too, and getting a lot of help with cooking…" Yakko grabbed me by the hand and walked me home, in a mix of frustration and relief. I kept muttering things he chose not to hear, but I accepted it all the same. I knew I wasn't right; I could imagine how worried I'd get if one of them just disappeared for the night without a call, or even any sign of where they were.

Coming home, Dot threw herself on me, hugged me tight, and then punched me over the neck about getting her worried. I did as promised, apologized a gazillion times, then went over to start off some of my punishment; Yakko demanded I cleaned the bedroom and put my things in order.

As the morning sun glowed over our humble home, hitting every corner and revealing every little crack, piece of dust or all imperfections, really –we had, once more, regained ourselves and began our day, as we always do. Yakko telling everyone what to do, Dot being our princess and teasing herself, but listening to her oldest sibling and being helpful whenever she could; and me, well, as unlikely it may seem, I was also obedient, and cleaning… and had grown mad for all the chores and grounding, so now, I once more stopped regretting I was trying to make Yakko and Paula fight.

Sneaking out a few of the pictures from yesterday, I taped them all over the bedroom wall, right next to Yakko's closet, mostly the few I had of Paula and that Tatyana lady. The ones with myself and her I didn't honestly need, so I shoved them in a random drawer, then went off to scrub Dot's vanity mirror on the other side.

Very mad and tired, since my brother had me doing errands all day, I scrubbed and I scrubbed, huffing and puffing, but awaiting the moment of sweet revenge. Taking a little break, I pulled out Paula's drawing from beneath my hat and looked at it again, making me smile; I was pondering on where to place it, when I heard a voice from behind me:

"What're you doing, sib?"

Casually slipping the piece of paper back under my hat, I returned to scrubbing the mirror and replied casually:

"What ya told me, cleanin', remember? Grounded? Chores? Maybe I can't spell `em alright, but I AM doin' `em."

I heard a snicker and turned around, Yakko was looking at the pictures I planted; he shift his gaze at me with a sly smile:

"So, you're into photography, I see? Say, some would rather buy an album for such….ahhhh, precious memories, but, I guess…growing up boy and all…"

"I just liked them, I like Paula, so I see no harm in having her around. Do they bother you?" I questioned, while the smartmouth shrugged:

"Not at all; they look very pretty. Especially the wolf-lady, but I'm guessing you got dibs on her, hm?"

"….nah, not my type, plus, y'know…she's taken." I kept scrubbing the mirror with such force, my hand was turning red even beneath my glove

"Oh? Do tell…?" Yakko encouraged

"She's with Paula; Paula doesn't like guys, Yakko." I finally said, trying very hard to hide the huge smirk from my own face "But it's ok! I'm sure you'll find someone very nice, very soon…."

"Really, that's Paula's girlfriend? What's her name, bro?"

"Tatyana." I felt proud, it all seemed to be going so well…

Yakko looked at the pictures and gave out a laugh:

"How cute, indeed, they make such a beautiful couple…though Paula looks like she's about to kill her, I guess it's just her type of look."

I shrugged and decided to ignore him. Did I win? Was it over?

"…soooo…." My brother walked over to me, taking the wet rag from my hand and sitting himself down on Dot's pink chair "Paula's a lesbian and she's dating that girl?"

"Yep." I popped my mouth, crossing my arms, almost challenging. Where was he going with this, now?

"That's great! I couldn't be happier for them. Then I'm sure, ahhhh…. Tatyana was it? –would be more than happy to join us tonight." My brother smirked lightly and rest his head on his left hand "I know Paula would love having some company and they seem oh so close in those photos…."

…..apparently, not over, not by a long-shot. Why couldn't he just let it go and believe my lies, just one time?

"…..tonight?" I blurted out, while my brother kept eying me with glee:

"What, your buddy didn't tell you? We're all going bowling tonight…you, me, Dot, Paula… and I'll go and tell her to invite her girlfriend, too…-" as he was about to jump on his feet, I stopped him, clutching the rag from his hand, trying to seem threatening:

"Y-you can't!"

"Oh, and why not? Don't tell me they're dating in secret? They can just say they're close friends, then."

"T-tatyana is very…has awful eye-sight problems…she can't come bowling, the lighting in there would just destroy them, she'd be in so much pain…" I started stuttering, while Yakko's smirk grew wider:

"Then I guess we'll hang out somewhere else. Maybe during the day, I'm sure she can go out SOMEWHERE, even with that terrible sight of hers…"

"Uhm… well, Paula's sleeping now, so-"

"Oh, but now you got me so worried! Her poor girlfriend, I have to know what her condition is, or else I won't be able to make it trough the day!" he noted theatrically, while I finally gave in, waved that rag around and jumped in front of him:

"You always have to win, doncha?"

"Let's cut the baloney here, Wakko, leave it. You went trough all that trouble, had Paula take photos with some girl she probably barely knows, just so-"

"She IS a lesbian!" I insisted, not sure why I kept, since there was no point. Yakko gave me a blank look, then stretched his arms:

"Uh-huh… that's for me to figure out, eventually, but that chick on the picture is NOT Paula's girlfriend. Maybe she is a lesbian, but she's not with Paula and I do hope if that is the case, that if you manage to stalk her for snaps again, you'll bring me back nice pictures with her actual girlfriend. That'd be swell, really, wall-worthy. Now, all of this aside… I know what you're doing."

"You think you know everything…" I pouted, looking away, dropping the piece of cloth on the floor. Yakko walked around the room, and gazed at the pictures once more:

"Well, not everything. But you don't have to be a brain-surgeon to figure out you don't want me and Paula dating; but, newsflash, little brother…turning us against each other, a-not doing anyone any good and b-not working, at all. So far, all you managed to do was lower her self-esteem and give me a blue eye. If that's your goal, I applaud you, but I hardly think you'd waste so many time with all these lies and blackmail, just to get me beaten up by a heartbroken girl."

"Heartbroken?"

"You keep saying you want her to feel beautiful, then turn around and claim I call her things I wouldn't tell ANYONE, unless they hurt me or had it coming. How do you think she feels? She trusts you and you're making her feel like she's not good enough for… what, the big superstar that is me? Anyone has the right to be with anyone they want! I don't get it, bro, but Paula's gonna figure it out… if she wants to, that is, but I think she doesn't… and she'll be hurt." Yakko went on, still looking at the pictures "She DOES have such pretty lips though, I never noticed, guess the lip-ring kinda-"

"You're the one who's gonna hurt `er! I don't believe a word you say, you don' like her, you're just trying to woe her to prove you can!" I lashed out on him "And that's not gonna happen, cause she's not like those beautiful brunettes, or breath-taking blondes, or ravishing redheads that'll just slap you, call you a jerk and get a date the very next day… she'll spend nights crying, do you know how hard it is to have her in your lap, in tears, doubting herself, hating herself, trying to just convince her that she's beautiful and normal, trying to hug her and being scared she'll run away, scream at you that you're lying or just convulse because you gave her one tiny friendly embrace?"

Yakko stood silent for a moment, afterwards shook his head slowly:

"No, but maybe I wanna know what that's like… maybe you're not the only person who wants to hold her, tell her she has no reasons to be scared and make her feel pretty. Maybe I do, bro? Ever considered that? You think I'm so evil I'd crush some poor girl just to prove a point?"

"….you're just Yakko. You just gotta have your way!" I took a deep breath, not sure what else to say. I never thought he was evil…I still don't, and never would…but I didn't believe him even then, maybe I should've, who knows? In the end, only Yakko can know what he feels, right? So why is everyone blaming me, I'm not in his head!

"…I have to protect her. You're not getting her and you're not hurting her. She'll always feel unworthy around you, not good enough, let it go, leave `er be! She'll think you're pitying her, or mocking her, she'll cry all the time, just stop it, stop-"

"Know what I think? I can change all that. I can make all those things you just described about her woosh away; I can make her feel like the queen of the world… but you don't want that. You wanna be the only one she runs to, doncha, the only person, the one who's closest to her… you just feel that if I dated her, she'll forget all about you, so you're scared…." His face somewhat saddened at that, but he looked angry, too

"What'd you just say to me?" I yelled, but he placed a hand on my shoulder:

"I hope I'm wrong and you don't feel this way, because you shouldn't. If you do, I'm very sorry, but… no one would replace you, you're her favorite person, you're her best friend. No matter what I became to her, Hell, I'd marry her –you'll never, ever be anything but number one to her. If I'm fine with being somewhere in the line of people she could care about, let's say, ahhhhh….second, third, tenth, whatever…then you be a friend and instead of sabotaging her chance of having someone in her life, help me out."

I glared at him, clutched my fists and roughly brushed away from him, half-hissing:

"Liar. And you're never gonna do this, she'll never fall for you and you won't win, not this game!"

Yakko sighed, then chuckled a little:

"I guess we'll see. Now, take those stupid pictures off the wall, that wolf lady is weird, I don't like face, her nose is just too pointy…" he left the room, giving out a deep sigh, while I, filled with anger, just threw myself on the nearest chair in the room and frowned, for a good five minutes, trying to think over everything we said to each other…

"What's this, now?" I heard him at the doorway and perked up; he was holding Paula's scribble paper. I wasn't sure what was about to happen next, would he throw it away? Should I say "please" and explain it means much? That it's special?

….how weird is it to have a brother.

I didn't have to say one word, Yakko just walked over to me and handed me the picture:

"She's really nice to draw you something, huh? Interesting… that girl sure likes colors…"

I blinked at him, but staring at his eyes, I found the same old caring look he always gave me, ever since I could remember anything. I nod my head, adding:

"….not sure what it is, but… I just wanted it, so…"

"Look, let's put this whole who dates who aside and…help the girl out. She's living in a car and has, probably, very little belongings with her, why don't we-"

"I'll go get her stuff from her old apartment, I promised `er!" I jumped on my feet immediately, while Yakko nod his head:

"Good lad! I'll make a few calls and see if I can find her somewhere to stay. You should've told me, I know how to talk people into doing anything…"

"That I know." I frowned, looking at the squeaky clean pink mirror. I adjusted my hat and stared him down "…so am I still grounded?"

"….maybe not, if you're on your best behavior tonight." My brother teased, and with that, finally left the room. I stuck my tongue after him and resumed to my chair, to frown and pout as much as I wanted.

After a little bit, I left the house, taking Dot with me, who wanted to help out with some of the stuff. As we snuck inside Martin's apartment, slowly, we gathered everything from Paula's room, and several objects we assumed were hers (if not, sorry, Martin… well I never liked ya anyway, but we never steal, just note us and we'd give anything of yours back) into a whole ton of boxes several well-build toons helped us carry in our tower (thanks Arnold from TTA! Freakazoid also!) ; while we were sweating and moving things around (it pretty much took all day), I messaged Paula and told her that the tower was empty and she can go there, shower, get cleaned up and prettied up all she wanted, since I figured the moving would take a huge while. Once we were finally done, parted ways with our friends and finally got back in the tower, me and Dot threw ourselves on the couch and leaned on each other, exhausted:

"….thanks, Dot. If you weren't so cute, they would've nevah agreed to help us out!"

"I know…" Dot claimed, trying to catch her breath "Boy, was it hot out there… I need a bath…"

"Me too; I'd use a shower…"

"You bathe?" my sister exclaimed with surprise, while I just threw her a dirty look:

"I'm too tired to even try and counter that!" actually, nothing countering came to mind, I guess the heat really did get to me.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

That shook us both up; Dot immediately forgot about her sweat problems, while I instantly remembered…

…oh no, oh crap.

"Someone's here! Hurry, call the police!" Dot rushed to the phone, but I stopped her:

"No, don't, it's ok!"

"Wakko, a stranger's in our house, didn't you hear th-"

I just rushed for the bathroom, gesturing her to follow me and found exactly what I expected.

"Get out of here, get out of here now!" it was Paula, I hadn't taken in consideration when Yakko would come home. Again, another mistake….I'm starting to think I can't do anything right.

Ughhhh!

"Heyyy, I'm not gonna be a bother, I'm just brushing my teeth, you go on ahead…" Yakko waved it off casually, eying himself in the mirror, while Paula was trying to cover herself up with… something. So far, all she had was her hands and a small pink carpet Dot placed near her tub, thinking it was "cute"… unfortunately, Paula was in the shower, not the bath-tub…

"GET THE FUCK OUT!"

"But I'm not gonna look, I promise! Gentleman's word!" Yakko tried very hard not to laugh, as he crossed a finger over his heart, actually looking away. That didn't seem to comfort Paula much, if at all:

"I can't shower with you here?"

"Whaaat, I told ya, I won't look!" he covered his eyes with a mocking smile, while she, in a fit of desperation, threw a shampoo bottle at his head; somehow, he dodged it:

"You're so ungrateful; I'm not even looking…"

"How do you expect me to shower with you… over there…?" Copycat questioned, trying to crouch somehow and hide herself; Yakko shook his head at her:

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… now why be embarrassed? Niceeee bod, sister…" apparently, he broke his promise about not looking, since hysterical screaming was heard:

"GET THE FUCK OUT OR I'LL PUMMEL YOU!"

"Welllll exqueezeeee me… this is my bathroom, by all means, you're always welcome to use it, but… I can be here whenever I want to be." He smirked, crossing his arms "You're gonna pummel me? I'd love that, just come over here and give me your best shot, loving the little rug you're sporting, Snow…."

"OUT! OUT! WAKKO!"

"What, are you upset I didn't offer to join? I thought we should get to know each other first-" I finally managed to grab him by the elbow and push him outside, closing the door shut behind me. After screaming a thousand "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" at Paula's direction, I made a face at my brother, who was twitching in two in a fit of laughter:

"This is too good! Now I really wish there was room in this tower, mornings would just be hilarious!"

"How could you!" I scolded him, which was odd, since it's usually the other way around "Why'd you embarrass 'er like that?"

"Oh come on, Wakko, live a little! I didn't mean to! Had no clue she'd be there, I walked in and just joked around a bit, that's all." Yakko wiped a tear from his eye, trying to catch his breath. Dot stared at us both and muttered quietly to herself:

"….why was I cursed with not just one, but TWO male siblings?..."

"You didn't hear the water running?" I was sure he was lying, but it's debatable, since he answered:

"No, the drier was on and it made too much noise; I just went inside to brush my teeth and clean my face, you know, gotta look sharp for my "friend date". " it did make sense, but I still kept frowning:

"You coulda just said "sorry" and left."

"Would you do that if you were in my place?" he questioned and I had to think for a moment. I guess it depends on a lot of things, like who the person was… but even after consider the most beautiful women in the world, I just said:

"Yes!"

"Oh you lie." Yakko smirked, while Dot concluded:

"We REALLY should buy a shower curtain."

I agreed, then carefully knocked on the door, almost afraid to ask:

"Are you alright, Paula?"

"He still there?" was the response I got, and Yakko made sure he was acknowledged:

"Don't worry, Snow, I didn't turn into a pumpkin yet, I'm all yours for tonight!"

"GET HIM AWAY BEFORE I RIP MY HAIR OFF!"

"…aw don't do that, it's not the hair's fault. Come rip mine." My brother kept teasing, while Dot coughed for a bit:

"Her clothes are in the drier and she can't come out with you two standing out here."

I immediately blushed, snatched my brother by the arm and dragged him to the living room, hissing accusations in his ear along the way. He chose to ignore them, or maybe agreed with them –but before we were far from sight, he gave one final instruction to Dot:

"You take care of my Snow Princess, make her pretty now, Dot, we don't want people accusing me of not knowing how to take care of my girls, now do we?"

I sat him down on the couch, again feeling awkward; he was usually the parental one, I was the one being scolded at –opposite day? Did someone forget to tell me? Well being a parent truly stinks and I hope that if I do become one, I'll have daughters.

"Stop callin' 'er your girl, and stop embarassin' `er!" I said sternly, feeling very weird. I wanted so much to be the little brother again; unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side, not recently, anyway…

"It's called "teasing", similar to flirting. You have a lot to learn about girls, middle sibling." Yakko informed me, seeming very proud of himself

"How'd you feel if someone walked in on ya naked?" I insisted, but knew the answer before it even left his mouth:

"I'd ask them to join, well… depends on how cute they are, but regardless, that'd probably be the first thing I'd say. That, or "pass the soap, please, oh and I can't quite reach my back". "

"I told ya, she's shy and insecure!"

"Exactly; now that we had such an awkward moment, she's gonna be so mad about it, she won't ever be shy around me, again… at least, tonight she won't. We'll bicker, we'll smart-mouth, but she won't tremble and she'll hold her head up high." Yakko explained simply "Since now that she feels like this was her weakest moment, she'll do everything to prove to me what a strong person she is tonight, when we go bowling…"

"…if she goes with ya, after that…" knowing her, she'd lock herself in her car and never leave, but my brother assured me:

"She will, trust me."

That'd be a miracle…I guess he was just too much of an optimist.

"…if she does, she'll beat ya up, y'know…" I warned, since that was also a possibility

"Nope, if she tries to even touch me…" he smirked once more "Let's just say, I'll turn the other cheek and react to her aggression with hostility… she won't dare to lay one finger on me, since she'll faint if I lay one on HER."

That was true…but I wasn't gonna tell him that. If anything, I wished he'd stop being so cocky and such a smartass for a change.

"….you can't know that, and you don't have proof that she'd go for you." I said for probably the millionth time, while Yakko just shrugged:

"Hey, it never hurts to try and win a girl over. Worst case scenario, she blows me off for good, I have nothing to lose, neither does she."

So we stood there, waiting for the aftershock and hoping Dot had calmed Paula down. In the meantime, I felt a feeling of dread and wished that the Burbank bowling alley was never created.


	8. Chapter 8

When Paula did come back to the living room, things had cooled down a little bit –though Yakko was still snickering from time to time and me, I felt embarrassed. I can't picture being like my brother, that… I wouldn't even call it "boldness" and I honestly felt bad for poor Paula.

Also, I wished she wouldn't punch him again, although this time, at least she'd have an actual reason to.

Dot walked in the living room first, giving us a stern look; I had no clue why she'd be mad at me, I did everything right this time –clearing her throat, our sister said:

"Now, when she walks out, don't make a fuss. Don't tease her, don't laugh, don't joke, try and pretend it didn't happen. And Yakko-"

"Yes, sister sibling?" he asked with a small grin, resting on the sofa casually:

"Don't make ONE comment about her body, not ONE, or her looks, in general. Just… don't."

"Dot, I was just kidding, I-"

"Please listen to me for once, you know a lot less about girls than you think." The female Warner finished, then walked outside, I could hear her voice from the corridor in a gentle whisper "It's ok. And if he makes you mad, just slap him over the face, no one will blame you."

I could hear Paula stutter something in response. Apparently, she was either still very embarrassed or it was just her way around pretty girls; she felt uncomfortable. When Copycat entered the room, I fought back a deep sigh, then noticed Yakko's eyes lit up slightly, as he gave her a look-over, but kept to himself. It's one thing getting beaten up by a tiny teenage girl and a whole other to have your head screamed off by Dot.

"So, ready to go?" I could see my brother was trying very hard not to laugh and felt almost afraid that Paula would consider it as him laughing at her; from what I could find in his eyes, it was quite the opposite, he seemed to approve of her current look –but again, who can say, really?

Nice and clean, she was in all black this time, with the bad make-up and much to my horror, that hideous lip-ring was back. However, the black clothes made her figure strike out even more and she did have a nice body –which why, I assume, Yakko felt like commenting eventually:

"You clean up good, Snow. I mean, that rug looked nice on you, but –" he dared say no more, after the glare both females shot him, only wiggled his eyebrows and repeated "So, all set, then?"

"….I want. To. Kill you." Paula hissed at him, resembling a wounded animal, and he took that into consideration:

"Ahhhhh, then, maybe re-scheduling? I have a dentist appointment next week and I kinda need to be alive for that, how about… the week after?" my friend seemed like she was about to blow, while I interjected:

"Uhm, maybe we go bowling some other time, or, y'know… uh… you look great, Pau!"

"Thanks. And yes, we're going." I noticed she was wearing long boots with very pointy heels and gulped, instantly picturing those sharp spikes going up my brother's jaw. However, he didn't seem so bothered; perking up, my brother jumped to his feet and rushed to the tower door, opening it, mimicking a small bow:

"After m'lady!"

Paula was twitching her hands so harsh, I was afraid her knuckles would break –yet, lifting her head up high, she walked ahead, while he kept checking her out from behind, muttering comments to himself I do NOT feel like repeating… but wanted to slap him over the neck for:

"….not a way to speak about a friend!" I hissed, while Yakko just shrugged:

"Hey, now, you have your way of complimenting, I have mine. But someone's gonna have to help her down that tower on those pipes she calls shoes… YO, Snow Princess…" -he walked after her, and what followed was a scene I couldn't quite see, but heard:

"GET OFF ME!"

"You're gonna snap your neck like a twig."

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, I CAN-"

"Oh don't pretend like you dislike it, besides, I'm just trying to help! You know what a fall from here could do to ya?"

"…your hands should NOT be there…"

"Oops, my bad, I know, ladies make the first move-"

"I'm gonna kick you into a week from next month's Tuesday and you'll wake up asking yourself why it's not snowing in December…"

"Must it be so rough? It's only our first date…"

"WAKKO!"

I turned to Dot, who just sighed and shook her head:

"Do we have clothes for a funeral?" I wanted to know, while my sister pondered:

"…wonder if I'll look cute in all black?"

Once all four of us were on the ground, unharmed (I guess there's very little you can do to someone if you're hanging in the middle of the air; I found no bruises on Yakko at all. But I like I said, I didn't exactly see the situation, so I'm unsure) we walked on and made small chit-chat, but I could notice, from time to time… Paula was actually looking at our eldest sibling out of the corner of her eye and a small shade of pink would form on her cheeks and neck whenever she did so. Yakko paid no attention, pretended to not acknowledge it at all –but I knew he saw that, too. Gritting my teeth slightly, I touched Copycat's hand –she instantly jumped, as if I had run a piece of glass trough it –yet, turning to me, I smiled sweetly once more:

"Ever been bowlin' before?"

"Yep, I have. Not the best, but –"

"Cause y'know, I can teach ya a few tricks. It's really easy. Hey, you can be on my team, and Dot can team with Yakko." I went on, pretty much speaking gibberish; just to keep her mind on something else. Clutching her hand, I noticed her whole body trembled; so fast, in fact, she almost lost balance –but she held my hand back, which shook in mine and once more, I felt so bad… so sorry… why was she so scared of me, it was just a simple gesture…

"I, uh… sure…" Paula gave an awkward, embarrassed smile, still holding onto me, while I tried to calm her down in a whisper, hoping my siblings wouldn't hear:

"Hey! It's ok. I'm here, right?"

"….that's what I'm afraid of." I heard her mutter and I blinked in confusion, walking on ahead with her:

"What? Why?"

"No offense, you're my favorite, bestest friend… but I just have a weird feeling that every time we get together and that smartass is involved it turns into a complete train-wreck…" at least she was honest and… well, she did have a point. Pretty much all I wanted was for them to hate each other, so a train-wreck worked ok, too.

"Don' worry, I won' let him do anything bad to you!" I promised, frowning, trying my best to make a scary face. That just made her laugh and caused Yakko to yawn and state with his usual subtle irony:

"We're not deaf, but thanks, Wak. Talk about biting the hand that feeds."

"…if we have to be perfectly honest." Paula spun on her heels, causing her hair and dress to twirl around and me to slap my face and sigh deeply "It wasn't HIS fault about what happened in that shower, AND-"

"Accidents happen." Yakko smiled at her, the corner of his mouth lifting in a sly smirk "Watch the wind there, Monroe, we're going to a public place…"

Copycat froze up completely, then tugged on her dress as hard as she could, clutching my hand painfully and pacing forward, in a state of shock and horror:

"I-it's not… I mean…"

"He was kiddin'! The dress looks, uhm…" I was never really good with clothes, never cared for fashion, either, so I just shrugged and repeated "He wanted to make you uncomfortable."

"I'll show him uncomfortable!" was a promise made with a shaking, yet threatening voice and I threw a glance from behind my shoulder at Yakko, who just gave me a little wave:

"Careful with our starlet, now, Wakko. She twist her ankle… oh, I'd just HATE to have to carry her all the way back home…"

"Oh you'll be going back home in a body-bag…"the human girl told herself quietly, while Dot concluded:

"Why can't we be back yet?"

"Don't worry, sister sibling, we'll have lots of fun!" Yakko comfort her, patting her shoulder lightly

"Will you be too offended if I, while you're being buried, rip-off some of the lines from "Titanic"? There are a few I always wanted to work with." Was the answer he received, while I, once more, lost my trail of thought. Tugging on Paula's wrist, I asked:

"D'ya watch "Titanic"?"

"….n-no! And I most certainly did not cry when Leo Di Caprio turned into an ice-block of a corpse for the woman he knew he could never have…" she gave me a weird look, but it was me who was staring at her oddly, now:

"…oookay…"

For some reason I was hoping she'd hate it, so we could have something to discuss, since, although I know it was based on a tragedy, the movie itself was hardly anything I found likeable. I kept forgetting Copycat was a girl and probably liked a lot of feminine things –that thought made me shudder, since I never, ever wanna imagine her swooning over pink boa-tied curtains and tiny puppies that for some reason went in your purse.

Actually, I hope she never even buys a purse. Ever.

At first, bowling didn't seem… half bad, it was actually kinda fun. It did start off as a bit awkward; especially when it was Paula's turn to bowl. Yakko's constant comments on her pose, or her posture, or dress, or even the occasional whistling, which he denied instantly, didn't help her at all and had us both losing badly; she managed to hit two or three pins out of so many tries, and all my brother would do was laugh and say:

"With those skinny arms, I'm surprised you can even lift the ball!"

"You're one to talk, you walking licorice stick!" Copycat snapped back, raising the ball high above her head, to prove she did have some physical strenght, while he just smirked:

"Wonder what you could do with two…?"

I didn't understand why, but she smacked him across the neck, then sat down, trying to shrink under the table, again in such a crimson color, it almost looked like steam was about to come out of her ears.

But, eventually… I can't even explain why… the two started to…. Get comfortable? I mean, Yakko was ALWAYS comfortable around girls, anytime, but… they almost started to… bond? I had no clue. It began with him sharing some French fries, then pretty much shoving his Soda in her hand, just so she could, in fact, eat and drink something –apparently I wasn't the only one noticing how skinny she had gotten – then it was actual easing into his jokes, with her giving out a few giggles and joking back, and finally, it turned into an "Anything you can do, I can do better":

"Betcha I can hit that sign" Yakko would claim, picking up a straw "Way uuuuppppp there, with just this gum drop."

"I can hit the clock" Paula pointed, which was several centimeters above the claimed sign "With nothing more than just this spoon and a little paper AND make it give out a loud crash."

"Bet I can twirl this french-fry around in five knots…"

"Seven knots AND it'll be dipped in ketchup…"

"Hey Pau, bet I can get THAT waitress to give me an extra soda…"

"I can get a free hotdog, just you watch…"

"Well now I KNOW you can't do this…" Yakko smirked, leaning over her "Bet I can twist my tongue faster than you can…"

"Hah. I can tie mine in a knot." Paula claimed, while my brother crossed his arms, amused:

"Show me."

Me and Dot stood away, realizing we were the only ones out of the four that were actually bowling.

"Are they going to bicker like little pre-schoolers all night? Ughhhh… I think I am going to be sick…" The Warner sister picked up her ball, then scoffed "I didn't come here to watch Yakko's pitiful attempts to score with some extra…"

"Hey! She's my friend, I don' insult yours!" I argued, though I had to agree. The whole thing was disgusting me as well, while Dot interjected:

"I'm not insulting her, I just hate being the third… no, forth wheel… isn't this your cue to try and stir something up, so they'll start fighting, hate each other and then you end up feeling so bad that a scene is caused and we all go home?"

I wanted to, but had no idea since they were both right there, in front of me. It's easy to turn people against each other when they're apart; not when they were trying to tie cherries and straws in knots with their tongues.

"Hey! Paula, it's your turn!" I yelled out, aggravated. It was actually mine, but she had skipped at least five by now. At this point, she was rolling a penny at the tip of her tongue, then flipped it over and managed to land it in an empty soda cup:

"Beat that!-Huh, I'm sorry, sweetie, did you say something?"

"I say… you still can't roll your tongue faster than I can. But do go, and try and hit a strike this time…" Yakko punched her on the shoulder, playfully, while seeming very much pleased. The color-bound girl walked over to us and I handed her a blue bowling ball, then huddled close to her:

"What're you doin'?"

"Hey, no fair, don't help her out!" Yakko yelled out, while Dot sat at him, poking a finger at her throat, pretending to puke. I scoffed my face and shrieked back:

"She's on my team, I can!" then turned to Paula, again, whispering practically in her neck (though I had to lift myself up on my toes to do that) "What're you doin'?"

"Kicking your brother's ass, why?" was the reply, but I hissed back:

"He's just makin' fun of ya, can't you see that?"

"…then why're you letting him?" my friend turned to me, confused, while Yakko, once more, felt the need to voice out:

"Heyyyyyyy, baddddaaaaa bada badaaaa, don't have all night, shoot for it, Snow, while we're still young and at least somewhat attractive! Sheesh!"

"He's my brother, I can't start a scene on here." I answered in a much calmer, quiet voice "Just avoid him, from now on. I'll deal with him, I promise!"

"Ok, let's just-"

"And do try and hit something, ignore `im, you're doing fine… maybe… place your elbows a lil lower…" it was hard to adjust her hands, considering they had gotten so bony, but I managed "And, lean forward, a lil bit… don't aim for the middle one, aim for the middle three, you'll have a better chance at a strike…-"

"Don't worry, I'll just imagine the pins are your brother's pointy heads. That'll get us a strike for sure." Copycat grinned, but I still felt worried. It was the first time when I felt like she didn't completely trust me and wouldn't take my advice by heart; did I have to lie and tell her Yakko insulted her again?

"Baloney! Here." Shifting his hand roughly over her lower back, Yakko placed a hand over hers and tightened it "You have a terrible grip. It's like you're scared to break it; don't worry, your hands aren't THAT strong… and your hips, when you're swinging, too stiff. It's like you're embarrassed, NO ONE's staring, everyone HAS to shift their hips a little bit to hit anything. Now, roll…"

"…let go first?" I could see her tremble in his arms, but he didn't let go, actually, his playfulness seemed to disappear for a moment. He appeared strict and stern:

"No. Come already, what's the point of bowling if you're no competition?"

"But your clutching too hard-"

"What, you're gonna faint now, since beautiful ole me is touching your pretty white skin?" this was mostly sarcasm, but a slight grin perked up his features once more. Trusting her head and biting her lip so hard, Paula tried her best to regain composure… my brother leaned in and whispered in her ear "Don't do that, you leave the lip biting to me…"

Slam! Or if that is the closest thing to a sound that makes when a bowling ball pretty much flies off your hand and hits a bunch of pins; Copycat almost got a strike. That should've made me pleased, since we earned some points, but now it was back to more giddiness I didn't feel like watching, or even letting occur, ever, in any lifetime.

"Hey! You helped `er, that's cheating!" I rose to my feet and walked over to them, while Yakko shrugged:

"Why're you mad? You got points too, right?"

With that, they both took a seat, now she was in a pleasant color of magenta, kinda going for purple, apparently from the contact of the loudmouth's breath and her ear. However, now it was Dot's turn, and as I stood aside, it was back to more "I dare you to" between the two, since Paula somehow managed to quickly shake it off:

"I-I need a drink…"

"Oh, oh noo… no drinking with the kids, rule number one, Purple Princess." My brother noted, frowning slightly "And DO YOU drink alcohol?"

"…water would do fine." She avoided the question, while Yakko seemed to approve:

"Very well. Wakko, give our nice lady friend some water…"

I pretty much gaped at him, then couldn't handle screaming:

"What am I, your waiter? You get `er the water if you want to!" now I was really mad. He was getting it back, just for that comment alone, while Paula tried to make some time of compromise:

"T-t-that's ok, I'll, uh… oh, look, there's some ice left, and…" gulping lightly, she shoved an ice block from her empty soda cup inside her mouth, remaining silent and trying to calm herself down.

Yakko turned to me, while I was fuming, in internal, and possibly visible to outsiders rage:

"You ok sib?"

"I didn' come here to sit around and watch what you guys can do with your-"

"Strike!" Dot came back, seeming very proud, and beamed at us "Did ya see me? I didn't even try hard! We're winning, Yakko!"

"That was amazing, sister sibling, very nice!" the eldest of us encouraged, while poking me lightly on the shoulder "Isn't it your turn, Wakko?"

Scrunching my face at him, I walked away, while Dot took my place:

"Something wrong? She seems flushed."

"Oh, you mean our Snow White? Yeah, just thirsty…but the waiter's being really mean, he won't take time enough to get our next order, aaaaahhhh I guess we're just not cute enough." Yep, he was good, since now, Dot stood up:

"I'll get us something! Who wants what?"

"Nothing for me, sister sib, just something cold and sweet for our guest, here." Yakko smiled, and as Dot walked off, he turned to Paula "So… still haven't seen you twist your tongue."

"….that was kinda a cheap shot. I could've gotten up and-"

"More twitching, less talking, zombie girl."

Twisting her lips at one side, apparently aggravated by being called "zombie girl" Paula flicked her tongue out and curled it up; Yakko kept laughing, but that just seemed to encourage her, and finally, he "joined in to show her how it was done".

All in all, they kept sticking their tongues at each other, until, of course, Yakko's, somehow, imagine how? –clicked with her and went over her lips, to a point where he reached the tip of her nose:

"Ooops. Sorry. It's a little bendy, but you understand, I get a lot of practice done." Now his smirk was huge and poor, poor Paula was about to pass out, I could tell. Throwing the ball randomly (and actually hitting a few pins, I think) I rushed to her aid, just as Dot came back with four cans of Sprite:

"Three of them were free…" she claimed, but her tone changed completely, once taking a glimpse at Copycat "Hey… she looks sick… maybe we should go home?"

"Oh no, we're having the time of our lives! Aren't we, Paul?" Yakko wrapped an arm around her, while she shuddered, then shift away slowly:

"I-I'm gonna go… get something to eat, I'm…. hungry…" then rushed to the snack bar, while I shot my male sibling a deadly glare, then followed:

"I'll come too, I'm starvin'!"

At the snack bar, I wasn't sure what exactly I should say –it felt as if I'd get in a huge dent with both of them, if I spoke up, so I thought about it carefully. She ordered a bunch of cheeseburgers and I assured her I'd help carry them back –but couldn't find words for the entire situation.

"Are you ok?" I asked her finally, while I noticed her hands and knees trembling:

"Y-you think that was an accident…?"

Grabbing a plate and placing all the food on it casually, I went on with my unfair ways:

"Yep."

"O-okay…"

"I'll go take those to the table, you wait for the rest, I'll just be a sec." I promised her, while Paula, taking a deep, deep breath, managed to nod her head. At our table, Yakko was talking with Dot and I really couldn't say much in front of her, so I just let it go and tried to rush back to my friend, before she passed out, as quickly as possible. I noticed that she was talking to someone, however, which seemed… odd. Not that I… don't consider… but Paula hardly communicated with people when she was sober.

Her companion seemed even more unorthodox, if anything –a giant reptile, a turtle, with a bright red headband. I figured it was one of her co-workers, but what struck me as weird was… why was he all the way over here, he didn't work for Warner Brothers?

"Uhm… hey there, uhm… Moses was it…?" Paula seemed to be just as shocked as I was, while the turtle rolled his eyes:

"It's Raphael. Really. You could use that little space between your ears sometimes, it's not so hard to do…."

"…right, that… other historical guy, uhm… what are-"

"What's a turtle doing in a bowling ring?" I blurted out, approaching, as he shot me an unimpressed look:

"The same as four dogs are." He gestured to our table, and as I tried to fire back, Paula kept a hand on my shoulder, her glare turning cold:

"Look Van Gogh…"

"Ra-Pha-El." He empathized, as if he were talking to someone with a very slow mentality "Really, is it THAT hard for you to remember? Geez, buddy, how'd you ever run by a script, do they paint it for you on cue cards with huge pretty letters?"

"We'll just go now…" Paula trust her head at him and as we began walking away, Raphael placed a hand on her shoulder, which seemed to bother her –I could see her eyes flitch, but he spoke:

"Wait, while we're having this pleasant conversation, I have a few things to deliver to you, first off, from the studio-"

"Wakko, just go take the food to the table, I'll be right back." The pale girl told me softly, yet I hesitated:

"But…"

"It's fine!" she assured, although it didn't seem like it. However, I could agree now, the turtles were major jerks.

I walked off, keeping a small distance, so I could hear and defend her, if necessary. Whoever he was, I didn't want him bringing her down –although he did look pretty big, so I was considering that my options wouldn't be that good, not one bit.

"Donatello's better." Raphael claimed, rolling the plate with his pizza around, giving it a suspicious look

"….who?"

"Donatello, the guy you dubbed?" the turtle gave out a huge sigh and reached for the ketchup bottle "Honestly, sometimes I wonder why they even put up with y-"

"Oh, purple dude. Yeah, I'm glad to hear that." Paula was about to walk away, while Raphael stopped her once more:

"Yeah, he's cool now, but Leonardo's lost it, this time. Turns out it's some kind of virus… so they wanna know if they can keep you for a little longer, although I honestly don't know why anyone'd even want you in the first place, but hey… office orders. Passing along." Raphael finished his speech and took a small slice off his pizza, while Paula was clearly trying to remember who Leonardo was:

"….allllriiighty then. If that's all, have a nice evening, I'm gonna go back to my table…" her companion snorted, looking her over:

"What, you're so desperate you're following around those little Warner pups? Must be sad to not have friends."

"For your information…" she tip-toed, so she could hiss in his face "…they invited me… well… the one with the long pants did, anyway…"

"Oh, really? Then out of pure curiosity, why's he flirting with that purple chick over there?" at this point, both me and Paula looked back, only to notice that… Dot was busy chatting with a few of her friends, while Yakko was in fact talking to Fifi le Fume… out of the worst, worst luck of all, and… well, Fifi was clearly flirting and Yakko was being… Yakko, I can't know… but at this point, it took me one quick glance at Copycat's face to hear my own voice, saying no too long ago:

"He thinks Fifi's the prettiest girl in purple ever…"

I heard a slight squeal, the sound of tennis shoes clashing with lousy polished floors and before I could even blink, Paula was gone. The turtle was still there and didn't seem to care less; he took his pizza and walked away, while I rushed off, hoping she had just… ran of for a second, that was an impulse thing, that she'd come back, slap him again, anything…but…

As I walked back, Yakko parted ways with Fifi, even though she seemed hesitant to and had to exclaim:

"Paula, Paula's-"

"Hey bro, what happened to the rest of the food?" he cut me off, but I just shook my head:

"This isn't about food, at all!"

My siblings exchanged terrified glances, as the male concluded:

"…you were right all along, Dot, our boy has lost it… not about food?... That's…impossible, Wakko, are you feeling ok?"

"This, this is why I kept you away from Paula! Why, why were you flirting with Fifi?" I practically screamed at him, while he lift his hands in defense:

"Woah, woah, woahhh, back up here, buddy! She's here with her boyfriend, she just came over to say hi! Will you relax? What happened? And what do you mean, what does Zombie girl have to do with it?"

"Stop callin' 'er that!"

"….but I mean it as a little nickname, you know I like the gi-"

"HE happened!" I gave up and pointed at Raphael, who was currently sharing his pizza with some of his own friends, a huge company, surprisingly, none of his colleagues seemed to be there, though. Rising up to his feet, it didn't take long for Yakko to put two and two together:

"….just keep an eye on Dot…" he claimed, but both me and our sister followed him anyway, as he turned Raphael by the shoulder roughly "Hey, swamp weasel! Funny seeing your vomit flavor face in a place like this…how come you're not in New York's sewers, trying to peek inside April O'Neil's shower?"

"Oh, the big baloney boy from Warner Brothers. I'm trying to eat here, which is apparently something you haven't been doing…" Raphael stood up and at that moment, I admired my big brother so much. The turtle was huge and seemed like he could kill us all with just one punch; however, Yakko seemed unimpressed:

"You buggin' my friends, buddy?"

"Friends? All I see is your looney tooney little siblings, now, if you would just-" Yakko rose up on his chair and reached for his neck:

"The girl. The one with the lip-ring and multi-colored hair. Paula. What did you say to her?"

"Oh, you mean your ugly charity case? I actually helped her off, she's better by herself than being someone's swine fest, really… you want that skunk chick, you'd be better off letting the hideous chalk girl g-" at that point, my brother lashed out on him, but the two were held back; Raphael by his own peers, while Yakko by several people, myself included, who really did care for him and didn't want him to end up as an ink spot:

"Are you crazy? He could kill you!" Dot screamed, sincerely afraid, almost begging "Yakko, please!"

"She left…" my brother huffed, breathing heavily "… because you, you and so many people keep putting ridiculous ideas in her head… this isn't over buddy…"

"Yakko!" I joined Dot, pulling him towards the exit, while Raphael just shook his head and gave out a snort "Let's just go see if she's ok, she's prolly back in her car, c'mon…"

"You're…. you're right, that was… stupid, beyond stupid, it wouldn't have solved anything…" my brother inhaled, as the three of us walked outside, looking for Paula "She's… it's gonna be fine. I don't know what that creep told her, but he's the last creature on this Earth who can give out beauty tips…"

"Let's just calm down. Like Wakko said… she probably went back in her car." Dot spoke, much calmer, although still trembling a bit "Don't ever do that! He was huge, he…"

"I know, but it's jerks like that…" Yakko didn't finish, just frowned and looked around "Alright, let's split up. Wakko, you and Dot, you check some of her hang-outs…me, I'm going to the parking lot, if she's there, better I talk to her one on one, she must be feeling hurt… huge lizard sewage freak…"

We did as told, but had little places I could pick, seeming as most places Paula spent her time at were bars and clubs, places you'd agree I couldn't take my little sister to. We walked the streets randomly, calling out her name, then decided to go look at the parking lot anyway; if Yakko and Paula needed their space, we wouldn't butt in, but at least we'd know they were both safe.

As we approached however, screams were heard, mixed voices, harsh, horrid laughter:

"Let me go! What'd I even do to you?"

"Not so tough now, are you, bitch?"

"I said, put me-"

"I'll smash your face in, you're going bald, you piece of mold, you're gonna-"

"Leave her alone!"

By the time we did go there, I figured, for once in a very long time, I was right… it was horrid…

Paula was lying flat on her back, while some woman, knife in hand, and a few more figures… two males, one holding a small child… were apparently trying to harm her, and, once more, my brother just stood there, while the apparently insane woman had that knife clutched in her hair:

"Awww, is the little girl scared?"

"I said, get off her!" Apparently, my brother managed to push the other woman off, while one of the males kept watching from afar, screaming at him… things I couldn't completely hear, something on the line of "If I pushed you, would you like it?"

Eventually, they were broken off, as more people came along. I had pushed Dot behind myself, but couldn't believe my sight… Paula was bright yellow, crying, and a huge chunk of her hair was lying in her feet, as Yakko tried to hush her down. Hugging my sister tightly, I ran over to them, both of us shivering, while Yakko just said:

"Take Dot to Minerva. I'll get an ambulance. Just go, go!"

I noticed that Paula's car was crashed –possibly from the fight- but a huge red paint sigh, on the front window, glowed in the street lights, claiming:

"Wakko's too good for you!"

"No! Don't touch me, leave me alone, you did this!" Paula was screaming, as I just had to rush away, while Yakko took it, trying to calm her down:

"No, it's all ok, everything's fine-"

"You wrote this, you hate me, you fucking hate me, you made them do it! You did!"

"No, Paula, calm down…" he was trying to hold her and dial on her cellphone at the same time; luckily, someone else had already called 911. Last thing I heard was my friend's terrified, desperate screams:

"WHY? WHY? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?"

That, and ambulance sirens….

I talked Minerva Mink into taking Dot in for the night, although the cute little one complained; then, immediately reached Hello Nurse and asked for Paula, a room number, anything… after finding out which hospital she was in and most of my demanded information, I ran there, as fast as I could, still shocked and terrified over what had just happened…

At the door, I stopped, hearing voices –I recognized them both, but they were calmer now, and quieter:

"…my poor hair, oh God…I loved my hair, I don't get it…"

"What did they do? Apart from those few punches, did anything else happen, did the guys hurt you?" it was Yakko, he spoke so calmly, and I took a peek, looking at them, sharing her hospital bed. Shaking, Copycat said:

"N-no, but… sh-she just… she just stopped me, on my way, saying I should… if I wanted to… blow someone, I'm not even sure, she called me a whore, I don't even…"

"And then what?"

"I called her out for it, she said that if I didn't blow her husband she'd beat me to a pulp and cut me up, make me bald…"

"Why the fuck didn't you just walk away!" I could almost hear him sigh, but he also seemed scared. She was in hysterical tears, so he couldn't afford being accusing "It's ok…shhhh…you didn't get hurt, and that's what counts…I…" he reached out a hand to her, while she kept insisting:

"You-you did this! Why, I never wanted anything from anyone, why, why're you doing this to me…"

"I swear to whatever you believe in, I had NOTHING to do with this… please… please…" gulping lightly, he noticed Copycat crumbling in a small ball, then added "If I had a problem with you being friends with my brother… would I let him see you, ever? I… those people were crazy, Paula, you were supposed to run, not fight with them…"

"B-b-but… why would she call me out, I didn't even look at her, I was just walking by-"

"They were sick crazy people, that's why… but it wasn't me… please… just calm down…" eventually, she dropped flat on her back, sobbing so loud, you could barely make out a word she spoke:

"It's because I'm so ugly, so hideous… that people just try and hurt me, so much, it's unfair…"

"…are you kidding me? You honestly believe that… God, you ARE obsessed…Paula…I feel like I'm telling you "the sky is blue" here, but… that had NOTHING to do with what you look like, it was a bunch of messed up creeps picking on a small girl for fun. It could've been anyone. Don't you watch the news? Read papers? People get massacred, disfigured, killed, mauled… in daylight, for everyone to see, just because…there are sick people out there…you…" he leaned a little closer, and she trembled "I'm not gonna hurt you…these people-"

"…what if they come back?"

"They can't and won't."

"What if they hurt you, too?"

"Then I'll die saving a beautiful girl, beast death ever… but Paula, joke aside…they can't… they were random people we will never meet again, who don't know us….calm down, baby…" Yakko finally found the courage to touch her hair lightly, almost afraid, as her eyes shot at him, still moist with tears:

"You… stood up for me…"

"If you weren't stupid enough to stand there like a punching bag…"

"….you're hurt…" she pointed at a small scratch on his chest, but he waved a hand casually:

"When I was getting her off you, the knife sorta… it's not important, apparently, she had no intention of making me go bald. It's alright, I wasn't gonna let this go on…"

"I-I know she didn't wanna hurt you, but-"

"Yeah. But it's not about you, either. There's nothing wrong with you…."

Swallowing hard, her eyes so huge and bulged, she managed to choke out, while fighting back more tears:

"But…you could've-"

"Know what I think? That… lady… though I can't call that freakjob a lady… that thing, you saw her? Fat and her skin… it was deep brown, the way I see it… she saw this tiny, defenseless, weak girl… with a petite little figure she'd never have and beautiful pale skin….and just thought "target". Or, second option –the whole family was on drugs… or, third, she was just crazy…" somewhat relaxing at his words, Paula managed to speak more clearly:

"Neither of them looked high or crazy…"

"Yeah, most serial killers or drug addicts just have it written all over them. You know they always say that… about psychos who hurt others…. That it's the least you'd expect." Yakko resumed talking reasonably, while Copycat seemed, although calmer, now conflicted:

"…she was carrying a child…"

"I pity the kid, can't wait to see what it'll grow up to be with a mom like that… and dad…" Yakko rolled his eyes, then tried his best to smile down at her "Hey… don't you worry about it. I think I know where you can live, too, so nothing like this will ever have to happen…"

"…I'm scared, I'm scared to even be alone, what if-"

"Shhhh…. No more "what if"… we forget this whole fucked up situation, and life goes on…. And hey, tomorrow…fix up your hair and have tons of fun, they think they can mess up our lives…" there was something here that I just couldn't put a finger on. Was it just pity, or was there…I could sense a type of softness in his voice as he spoke, warmth…I know he barely knew her, but he took care of her as if she was his child.

"I miss my hair…" Paula admitted, while Yakko shifted closer to her:

"It's just the bang, and we'll even the other one out… and, you know… you seem like you like rock music… you could get a whole Joan Jett hairstyle, try something new…besides…I always thought girls with bangs are pretty cute."

She laughed. She actually laughed, and I noticed, her eyes were starting to go dim:

"….that needle, they stuck in me…"

"Just something so you can go to sleep now. To relax, you got pretty scared. Anyone would." He explained, while Paula reached a hand to touch her hair once more:

"….I think I might like a different hairstyle."

"That's my girl."

Pausing for a minute, she lay back, her eyes half-closed, while he just looked down on her, not saying a word. Finally, Copycat spoke once more:

"…but who would've written that on my car?"

"No clue; probably some obsessed Wakko fangirl. It can happen; don't worry. Police will take care of everything. And if they don't, well, tough… since… whoever felt the need to do something that lame is not good for anyone, not even the one-eyed homeless person down the block…."

"….why did you stick up for me?"

Yakko smirked lightly and flicked her nose:

"Obviously because I hate you and rejoice in your pain, right?"

"….obviously…" she tried to laugh once more, but apparently the medicine they gave her was kicking in

"Because I like you, Snow. I really do. And all the same… I wouldn't let anyone get hurt if I could help it, though I would've just called the police right away… I guess I like you… a lot more than I thought I did before…"

With that sentence, her eyes closed and all Copycat could mutter was:

"….you like me…?" before falling in a deep sleep, which I hoped… was calm and erased a lot of those memories, most that I thankfully did not witness.

Turning on the side, she slept peacefully, while I took a seat outside, to wait. Before that, however, I noticed Yakko laid down next to her, lightly pressing his hand on top her hers, leaning his face on her back; Paula clutched his fingers tightly and the two remained there, eventually, surrendering to slumber.

So as I waited outside, I had to ponder…

….would they be so terrible together after all?


	9. Chapter 9

"There ya go, see, I told ya, that would look really nice." Paula was staring at the mirror, while a hair-dresser was carefully evening out her front bangs; she looked like tears were about to pour every time a lock of hair hit the floor. My brother was being supportive, while myself and Dot couldn't exactly understand what the big deal was about a hair-cut; however, Yakko apparently did, or had less of a clue than us, but was trying so hard to make it easier, that he actually offered to hold her hand trough it, like it was some sort of operation.

"I'll be fine…" Paula promised, trying to sound brave, while I just raised an eyebrow, blinking. What was the big deal, here? It felt weird, she wasn't getting a limb chopped off, just a few locks that'd grow back….

"Now, let's just-"Copycat pretty much hissed at the hairdresser, who wanted to tend to the rest of her hair:

"I said just the bangs…"

"But honey, your hair, just a little freshening up, it wouldn't hurt-"

"BANGS!"

"You know… have you ever considered… maybe, trying a different color?" Dot spoke up "How about blonde? Or maybe something reddish would be nicer for your complexion-"

"Uhm, well-"

"Oh, blonde would be hot. Maybe super-short, but no, no… you know, I once saw this commercial on TV… this amazing chick had complete rainbow hair, every color you can think of, and the back was slightly shorter than her front… damn she was pretty…" Yakko got lost in his own little world, while I frowned and elbowed him in the ribs. Twitching her eyes, Paula snapped at the hair-dresser dangerously:

"Do what he said, exactly like he said it…"

"Uhm… could you repeat it-"

"I SAID DO-"

"I think you should just keep it. I love your hair." I claimed, crossing my arms strictly, while Dot shrugged:

"Maybe go for just black? You know, a little messy, like that girl from the rock-star movie?"

"Well…" now Paula was even more confused, since the three of us kept pitching ideas. She could never make up her own mind and what annoyed me extremely was the fact that, not only was she indecisive, she just wanted to be whatever Yakko told her to be; that I didn't feel like allowing, it just wasn't right.

"…so you do tattoos and piercings here, too?" she turned to the unlucky soul who was chosen to cut her hair. He gulped lightly and nod his head, adding almost immediately:

"T-that's Frankie's department, though. She's amazing with ink!"

"Killer." Was all my friend would say, while pondering all the suggestions "….so would rainbow hair be hard to do?"

"Well, it's not impossible, but it will take a few hours work and-"

"You're not gettin' that!" I walked over to her, almost tempted to growl at the stylist "You make `er look like a walking skittle and I'll pummel ya!"

"….maybe I should give you all some time…" the man was now frightened by all of us and probably cursed his luck and profession. Paula decided to be reasonable:

"I'll think about it while I'm getting the ink and piercings… sorry about that, dude…I, uh… I really like my hair…" she felt a little embarrassed, while the man just had to blurt out, for the sake of his own safety:

"It IS lovely hair…"

"Wait, what're you getting?" Yakko wanted to know, while I tried to hold him back:

"What, you're gonna hold `er hand in there, too?"

"…those things are done with needles, Wakko, they actually hurt." He tried to explain, while I rolled my eyes and puffed:

"And I'm sure she was in great pain when the few centimeters of 'er hair separated from `er skull. Gimme a break, what're you tryin' to do here, Yakko?"

"I'm trying to help a scared girl out, she had too much to deal with in too short of time, she needs support. Brushing off things like-"

"I really don't get why she was so frightened about a haircut, though." Dot agreed with me, even in a much calmer way

"That's what I was trying to explain, sibs, if you both would let me…" Yakko claimed in a calming manner, avoiding my aggravated stare "To Paula, her hair is the only thing in her life she has control over; the only thing she can change whenever she wants, to reflect on how she feels, whether it's feeling unpretty or sad for any other reason, or happy, or anything. It's the only thing she feels she can change easily. To her, having someone else change it is like losing that little bit of control. Our little Snow feels like she's been controlled all her life for… some reason. I personally think her own fears and demons are controlling her, and no one else, but that's just me. Understand now?"

Dot seemed content with that explanation; me, however, I still wanted a reason to pout and frown. No clue why, but I really did:

"Oh so now you're a Paula expert too! You really think you know so much-"

"No, I asked and she told me, before we came here." He cut me off, before another pointless fight between us would occur.

Oh.

"Oh." I took a few seconds, while Yakko was already opening his mouth to speak more, and then decided I still wanna be a pain, again, as always, never really sure why:

"Well! Then, then you're a jerk, you know that?"

Yakko and Dot exchanged glances; my sister gave out a deep sigh:

"I'll go see if Paula's ok, I'm getting a headache…"

"Please keep her away from skulls and snakes, sis, honestly, be nice and have her get something feminine. I'm begging here." Yakko half-shouted after her, then turned to me "Pardon? I'm a jerk? How, my dear Wakko am I being the jerk?"

"You just said it, you're takin' away the little bit of individuality she has left! The lil bit of control! You're trying to change `er, how can you like someone and go out of your way to change `em into some Skittle lady?"

"Wakko." I could sense he was losing patience with me, but I could care less at the moment. I was actually on a good point, and maybe for once, had a chance to win an argument. Of course, when your opponent is my brother, that's highly unlikely. I don't know how he does it, but he always finds something to say and at the same time, leave you out of words.

He should be on debates, but it'd prolly bore him too much.

"…I'm not trying to "change her"; I was trying to keep her cheerful. That was the first thing that popped into my head, that commercial I mentioned, I saw it more than one year ago, so I don't even remember the woman's face. It was just a suggestion, I don't care what she does with her hair, she could shave it off for all I-"

"There! You don't care about her looks, so how can you… like `er?" I felt like he was getting tired; but me, I could do this all day.

"Contradicting yourself, but that's becoming a habit of yours recently, so I won't even bother." Yakko took a seat, gave out a deep sigh and replied in a mocking tone "Of course, when I want a relationship, all I should care about is looks. Yep, that's me. I'd only date someone if they're just drop-dead gorgeous or looked exactly like I wanted…"

I blinked, confused, and stared down at him:

"…don't you?"

"Yes, Wakko, I love beautiful girls, we all know that… but in a relationship, that's not what counts most. When I actually am interested in someone, I don't chase after only their looks. If something in their personality turns me off, she can look like Princess Aurora and I'd still show her the door. I don't need pretty dolls to look at, I need human beings! And to me, Paula's pretty just the way she is; whatever she wants, she can change or not change, it's really her choice, but if she does put a skull on her skin, I'm not gonna lie to you, bro, I'll be a little turned off… that'd just be ugly, on a girl, something that'd belong on a biker gang leader's forehead…" my brother finished off, but an idea seemed to perk him up "Although… if she did got something of the sort… in a way, kinda hot… shows she has strength of character, baldness… anyone who'd wanna walk around with a Mr. Skullhead on their skin has a pair, so even then I doubt I'd mind that much… but I'm hoping she won't." he took a glimpse at the door, probably having faith that Dot would never let anything of the sort happen. I was sure she wouldn't, but still felt angry and wanted to find more reasons to nag on him.

For a little bit, I couldn't find any. I sat next to him and frowned, while he decided that in our particular case, silence would be worth ten times more than gold and just stood there, humming to himself and smiling from time to time, waiting for the girls to return.

"She's beautiful." I blurted out, completely out of nowhere, just hoping he'd say something that'll make us fight. Yakko however, was apparently prepared:

"Yep, Paula's beautiful, that doesn't mean she can't be called other things, like pretty, or cute, or lovely, gorgeous, ect… they pretty much mean the same thing, bro."

How did he even know I was talking about her? Sometimes he scares me. I take it, he was expecting anything that I'd say next would be related to her and was prepared. Also, the little sneak, he got extra points just for making it seem like he "assumes" and associates only her with the word "beautiful". No wonder he gets so many dates, if she was listening right now, she'd be in a puddle, all around his feet.

Having nothing to say, I kept making a very scary, aggravated face –when I say scary, I mean it. A woman passing by half-gasped when I looked up to her, since I probably had the words "Kill kill kill" shining in my eyes.

Well, not literally. But I'm sure I had that look.

Why was I picking on my brother, you might ask? Back then, I wasn't sure. Right now, I guess I would explain, but you wouldn't understand unless I go trough it, event by event. So I hope by the end of this you will, if not, do ask me more questions, I'd be happy to cover any grounds or holes I might've left.

Sometimes it's hard to tell a story without leaving something out; since to you, it didn't feel that important, but to the other person, it might be a huge plot key or helpful chi-chi.

"…if you're gonna give `er tips, at least make her stop wearing that ugly lip-ring; `Least she listens to YOU." I finally muttered, resting my face on my right hand, kicking my feet in the air with annoyance. I was sure that Yakko was dying to point out how jealous I sounded, but didn't, for the sake of peace and sibling love (actually, he was the only one out of the two of us who worked very hard just to keep that bond of ours; it seemed that like no matter what I would do or say, he'd just want it to work out, no matter what):

"I like the lip-ring… it's kinda hot…" he shrugged, grinning a little, while I frowned:

"I don't, it's very ugly!"

He WAS being honest, but in all fairness, so was I. I guess it show how much opinions can differ and what perspective can be like; again, lines like "to each his own" or "beauty in the eye of the beholder" come to mind, but they're just too cheesy and lame. The latter has been done so many times, it's just corny to hear it from anyone now.

"…well in the end of the day, little bro, it's her mouth, so it's her decision. She's not making you wear it so you really don't have much of a right to say. You can state your opinion, but Paula's the one who decides on whether to listen to it, or not. Freedom of speech, but also, freedom of choice."

"Well if you keep edging her to keep it, `course she will… she wants to look like anything you'd want her to look like…" I threw him a dark look, while he blinked:

"…that's awful. I'll talk to her about it, I can't know if she exactly will be interested in being an item with me-"

"She will not!"

"-but in general, I should tell her… guys are very turned off when a girl doesn't like something about herself and would in fact change it, if they told them so. We hate that. The girl needs to stand up for herself and not be pushed around; if he doesn't like her the way she is, no one's forcing him to stick around… again, giving a tip or two is one thing, clinging on some guy to create you in whatever image he wants is just… not right, uhh…" he shook his head, and apparently, thought nothing more of it "But sometimes, even the boyfriend should have a word. If she decided she wanted to shave her head and cover every inch of skin in tats, I would have to at least hint that it'd be a bad idea, now wouldn't I?"

If that ever came across Paula's mind, I'd take her by the hand and get her an appointment with Scratchy, first chance I'd get possible. Yakko was actually being pretty gentle, that was a tad surprising, but I speak my mind… even if, recently, I lied so often… I usually just react and speak bluntly, since that's just me.

"If she gets a skull, I'm taking all our savings out and putting her in surgery, that's that." I concluded, since that I would agree on. Not so sure if it'd be ugly, but it'd be darn creepy to even try and look at.

"Hey, hey! Putting us out of house and home, that's unfair. Pitch in, but don't send all four of us on the streets!" he knew I was kidding (although if that'd ever happen, chances are the joke might've become reality), but still scolded me, yet keeping his cheerful good mood, pretending to ignore my own obvious bad one. He didn't feel like pushing my buttons, since he didn't want us to fight, over and over again… and like I already mentioned, I just wanted to, so much!

Get angry already! Can't I do somethin' that'll annoy you, even a little bit?

Eventually, Paula and Dot came back, and as we didn't see anything on my friend's shoulders, neck, hands, arms or legs, my brother went into a whispering tirade:

"Please not her hips, please not her waist, God she had such a sweet body, why, why, why did you take this away from me? What did I ever do to you? Oh God, if it's on her breast-"

"What'd you get and where?" I grinned, wagging my tail around, hoping that now, once and for all my problems would be solved. While Yakko seemed almost afraid, and went back into his quiet sobbing mode as she indeed reached to lift her shirt up, I perked up. Bye-bye, thanks for playing big brother, but aww, maybe you guys can be friends…

However… it didn't go as I wanted and big surprise. Why don't I ever get what I want? It's just unfair. I'm not a bad person, no worse than a lot of every day ones, and they still seem to have much more luck with any of their wishes than I do. I just had one then! Alright, two… I was still kinda hoping that Paula might hook me up with Katie, but even that wasn't that big of a desire!

It was a small, simple, tiny purple heart, with what seemed to be a black stitch across it, as if it had been put together, on the side of her left hip. I stared at it, and thought it was pretty cool; Dot seemed to like it, I guess, since she claimed she helped out with the idea, but I was still very much in Heaven, since Yakko seemed so frightened she'd mess with her hips.

But… when I looked over to my brother…

He was also staring at it, and for quite a while, with a look that… see, well… he didn't speak much of it, but his gaze was suggestive enough and of things I really don't feel comfortable wording. All I can say is, if you've ever seen a hungry wolf drool over a nice chunk of warm steak, somewhere in the zoo, perhaps? –you'd get a very clear idea:

"That's…" my brother choked out, and the words "I want a taste" almost left his throat, but he found himself and some composure" …kinda cute, Snow!" Yakko calmed down and finally resumed talking in his usual tone "Nice idea, too. I like it. Good job, Dot, I knew I could trust you!"

"Of course. Making people cuter is just part of being me." Dot shrugged, smiling sweetly, while Paula turned to me:

"You like it?"

My face had already dropped and I was actually surprised it didn't scare her too, but I blurted out:

"Does it matter?"

My siblings probably shared glances behind my back once more, but Paula still had the right thing to say, after all:

"If it didn't matter, would I ask?" she put it simply, apparently very hopeful that I would approve:

"What do you care? You never listen to me! I keep telling you to take off that lip-ring, but-"

"So you hate it?" her face went down and she sighed a little bit "I knew you would. Well, I just-"

"Then why'd you get it? See, you don' even care what I think, because-"

"Because… I liked it. I want you to like it, too… I do want advice on looking better, but in the end, when I decide to get something done, I do it. It has turned out wrong or stupid in the past, but your sister has good taste, I decided… why not, I wanted to show I've patched things up inside of me and am still gonna stand up on my feet, no matter what. She just found the right image for it, that's all… I had no clue what to get."

"….I really think it's very cool, Paula. Honest. I'm sorry, I didn' mean to yell…" I stood up, feeling a tad guilty. It was her skin, she wasn't supposed to think about me when she was sticking needles in it, why was I doing this to her now?

"You do? Honest?" her eyes lit up for a little bit and I smiled, nodding my head:

"It's faboo, I promise! I wouldn't lie to ya if I didn' like it… if I wanted to lie, I'd lie about the lip-ring, too… but it is kinda annoying that you keep it… can't you consider just changin' it, at least?"

I can't describe her smile at that moment, but it was different, from any type I've ever seen form on her features before; it made my heart feel warm and I can't put a finger on it, but I felt like I wanted her to hug me. She didn't and I hated everyone for that, but…

I just hope that she'd change it so I wouldn't be the one ending up in a puddle after all; in the same time, I would pray every day that she would smile just as she did back then, it was just…

Since this Disney-worthy moment of ours didn't seem like it was about to end soon, Dot cleared her throat and decided to bring us back to Earth. It worked:

"So, are you getting anything else done? Your hair? Piercing?"

"Well, about the hair… I still wanna keep the same colors, but I guess going for a Joan Jett style sounds cool after all." Paula seemed happier than ever, as she sat down at the hairdresser chair, while the worker from before, I noticed, actually said a little prayer before forcing himself to come over:

"So, did madam make up her mind?"

A few days passed after the described above events, yet so many things seemed to had changed, without me noticing at all. First off, Yakko did manage to find a place for Paula to stay in –it was a tiny little cellar room, which hardly looked that healthy, clean, but was extremely cheap and apparently, easy to turn around. He somehow talked the person into letting Paula buy it off in parts, with each salary she took, and the big part she did manage to offer from her job at the Ninja Turtle show was partly helpful; now, my friend did have some place she would be safe and no one would bother her. It took a while of cleaning, hours of re-modeling, freshening up and a whole ton of imagination so everything Copycat owned could fit in there –but somehow, we pulled it off. At the end, she had a nice little room all for herself, with no one around to disturb her and with a key and lock so she would never have to worry about being harmed again.

With that being said, Paula worked hard every day and offers did just start coming from nowhere, so purchasing the place fully wasn't going to take very long at all; however, she seemed to be spending a lot more of her free time at the tower recently and I wouldn't mind one bit, if I was included in most of her activities.

Why that was happening, I couldn't figure out, but it aggravated me beyond words. Why was she picking him over me, why was I the one left out, I was her friend first! Why, why was it that every time my big brother stepped in the scene, I always became the invisible Warner?

Did he have to take everything? He was the smart, cool, "hot" one, the girls all loved him… Dot was the cute, sweet, adorable, loveable fan favorite… and me? Like I said, I had my share of fans, but between the two of them, did anyone even notice me, at all?

"They're just friends, it's because he helped her out before with that crazy lady, that's all there is to it, it'll pass…" I kept telling myself, but somehow, it didn't make me feel any better. I had gotten so used to lying I was now doing it to myself… but it didn't last long, since it only took a couple of minutes for all hope to shatter and for me to swallow defeat.

I was just coming home from hanging out with my friends one night, when I saw the two, Yakko and my… was she that? …friend, Paula, on the living-room couch. Apparently, they were having some type of argument, but it was in very quiet tones and they both seemed… confused, worried, for some reason scared…

"Why are you doing this to me?" my brother was questioning and I hid in the door's shadows, just peeking slightly; the two neither saw nor heard me, apparently, they had too much on their minds at the moment to be concerned about someone who, up until this point, did nothing but apparently stalk them and stare at them from a distance. Oh, and cause tons of trouble. At least, I guess, if all I did was just look, it'd be somewhat better… yet, there I go, rambling off again…

When he asked that question, Paula looked away, shivering from head to toe, but he didn't seem accusing or angry; he sounded gentle and almost a tad… hurt? Trying to touch her hand, she shift away, still quivering, and he just laughed slightly, with irony, shaking his head:

"Holding my hand is not a crime…"

"Yes it is, if you're me…" came a very shaky whisper from her, while Yakko looked over at her side, she was desperately trying to hide every part of herself, pretty much quivering in a tiny ball and covering most of her face with her hair:

"Help me out here… I need to understand… I thought we were on the same page, I thought… you don't want to even touch me in public, and I want a girlfriend whose hand I can hold without feeling like… a criminal. I'm not asking for a live flesh-fest on some bench somewhere, just… you can't even admit we're dating? You couldn't even tell that prop girl, who came up to us to tell me "Oh, is that your girlfriend? She's very pretty, Yakko!" that we were?"

"T-that… she was making fun of me, I just-"

"How can you know that? And for that matter, what is this going to be, exactly? Are we dating in secret? Are we even dating at all? Talk to me… I can't keep trying to read everyone's mind and I'm sick and tired of this… what, what's wrong?" he kept questioning, but before she could answer, he added "You barely let me touch you when we're alone, either… if it's the people you're worried about, why, right now?... There's no one in this room but us!"

"I can't… alright…" gulping lightly, Paula forced a smile on her face and turned to him, though her eyes were huge and she was still trembling "I… will you hear me out, please? And afterwards, if… if it's too much, you're free to walk away… just… listen…"

Silence followed, for as long as she could take a very deep breath, then her voice was heard once more:

"When I was a little younger, I ran away from home… my parents didn't even call the police or try to find me, or reach me, anything… this… guy, he was… in his 30s, I think, I'm not sure, just took me in… kept saying he wanted to sleep with me, but I didn't, and-"

"How the… how could you…" my brother started up, apparently shocked, but she hushed him gently and went on:

"I was scared, I had no place to go… two guys before him had made… a few similar suggestions, but he said he wouldn't touch me if I didn't want to… unfortunately… one night, he got really mad… he hit me over the face, so hard, my head bounced of the wall and said I was a no good, disgusting, dirty piece of garbage and no one would ever, ever want to sleep with me, ever… afterwards, he wouldn't even let me leave the house… it was crazy, he kept begging for forgiveness and claiming he loved me, then turned around and would just insult me, all the while, I was terrified he'd hit me, I just had no choice… I had to lock myself up in his bathroom, claiming I was having my period and needed something to clean up and text the police from there, so they'd come and get me, then take me back home… I never told anyone… my parents acted as if I just came back from a vacation. I told the cops and they gave the man a restraining order and that was that… so, you wanna know? I'm embarrassed… I'm disgusted… but not by you, or anyone, I feel like…" she kept smiling, but tears were rolling down her cheeks so heavily, while Yakko remained speechless "I feel like I'm the worst, worst thing in this world, that I don't deserve you, that I don't deserve anyone. I'm ashamed of myself to such a length you cannot even imagine… yes, he was a crazy bastard, yes, I shouldn't listen to what some angry person said, yes, I should care about your opinion only… but I don't feel good enough… if people saw us together and knew, they'd mock you, and laugh, wonder why in the world you're with me… you know the only way I can actually sleep with someone is if I'm drunk, completely wasted out of my socket? That's the only thing that'd get me to lift my shirt up and even then, I barely remember anything, I barely feel anything good out of it, that's not… what I'd want it to be… with you…. But I just can't…" her tears hit the floor, while I could see that, in the very moment, my brother's heart was aching, probably more than her own. For some reason though, he smiled and said:

"I understand, but… those are hardly words you should've clinged on for so long. No one would've… it's pretty obvious that when a person is annoyed at you, they'd say anything, and he wanted to sleep with you, so-"

"Said that he was desperate, since no one wanted him, either…" Paula muttered, but had calmed down at the sound of my brother's voice:

"Gee, I wonder why. He sounds just lovely… leave it be, Snow… let it go…"

"I have. I don't think about it, I just… always feel… un-worthy… it's around everyone." Copycat exhaled, wiping her tears away and smiling too, her trembling lessening with every second "That's why…I want you, Yak, I just… I'm embarrassed of me… you're just too good for me and I can't fight this, so… it won't work out, let's leave it be and-"

"Lie down for a moment and close your eyes."

"Uhm… what? No, Yakko, I just-"

"You trust me, right?" he looked her over, still smiling softly "I swear on my own pair of gloves I won't lay a finger on you, either. Just… lay down for me, just for a tiiiny second and keep your eyes shut, alright?"

"I…ok…" she seemed more confused than worried, then flushed slightly and hurried to add "I never said… I never thought you'd want to… I don't think you're interested in touching me at all, as a matter of-"

"Come on, princess. On your back."

Obeying him, Paula lay on the couch, her eyes shut tightly, still trembling from time to time, maybe it was the stress from having to tell and re-live that one apparently awful and painful memory… my brother kept fussing around the room, until finally, he leaned over above her and said:

"Now, I want you to stay calm and not worry about a thing. I'm a man of my word. I just hope you're not ticklish."

"What does that me-h-wha-…what're you…"I couldn't see exactly what was going on, but for some reason, she gasped, and started shaking once more "S-stop it… please… th-that's not…"

"Shh, no peeking, I promised and I wouldn't lie."

"I… then… why am I feeling, what am I feeling, on my neck, it's just-"

"It'll just take a few seconds, anyway. Man up and stop fidgeting… do you trust me, or not?"

After several other gasps, she muttered a "Yeah" and that was that, but at this point, things didn't look good from my end and I was putting a stop to it, now- but before I even reached for the doorknob, my bro had jumped up on his feet and was holding up a mirror:

"Ta-daaa! See? Told ya you could trust me."

I couldn't see anything, but after a moment of shock and confusion, for some reason, Paula burst out laughing:

"What the fuck? Oh dude, and I thought I was crazy when it came to coloring!"

"Just thought you could use a little red, you're kinda on the pale side…" Yakko grinned and I peeked in a little closer, only to see what it was all about. On Paula's cheek, neck and neckline, several bright red hearts were painted, as well as one tiny pair of lips, right there on the side of her jaw-line. In Yakko's feet, a tiny wet paint-brush was twirling around, from side to side, as Copycat was still laughing:

"So THAT'S what I felt. Jesus…" she shook her head, but couldn't hide the softness in her eyes, as she was looking at him.

"Told ya I wouldn't lay a finger on you, and I kept my word. Now, since you can, in fact trust me… can you trust me enough to actually let me say…that I do care and…" he took off his glove and stroke her other cheek carefully "…see, touching you and nothing bad happened. I lived… there's nothing wrong with you, no one can say who's good enough for who and at the end of the day… I decide who I want. I want you. I guess we'll take baby steps, I needed to understand… but I promise you, I'll be damned if I ever let you feel this way about yourself around me ever again…"

Paula flushed, but didn't tremble, while he stroke her cheek:

"But… I still think…-"

"I think you should do less of that, no offense, but apparently, it's really not doing you any good at all." He shrugged, then shifted to move his hand away and hide the mirror and paint; however, she had clutched it in her own and was pressing it against her cheek gently, a small, shy smile forming on her lips:

"Yeah, I guess… baby steps sound fine…"

Yakko smiled and smirked slightly, closing in on her and pecking her cheek, then holding her close; she did tremble a little at first, but seemed to relax afterwards, in his arms:

"…now you're gonna get paint all over yourself, too…"

"There's a thing called a "shower" I've just been dying to try out, I hear it hits the spot perfectly when you get dirty." He noted, and stood there, holding her, until eventually, both of them had calmed down and were just looking at each other, smiling, touching the other's side or nose from time to time, almost playful, almost joking, however, even I could feel there was a lot more there…

What happened afterwards, I can't say, since I left, feeling too much like a sick pervert and not managing to gulp down everything I had witnessed so far. It was over; he won. He always wins… and maybe it was better, maybe it was for everyone's good… but…

In the end, he was right all along.

For you see, everything I had done up to this very point was because, deep, deep down inside I knew I would lose her. I just didn't want to admit it, even to myself, yet I kept keeping her away, just so I wouldn't be cast aside for the sake of her loving my brother… in a way that would never be possible for me and her.

What I can say was, eventually, things changed… Paula changed, and oh so much… she was always smiling, always laughing, talked to everyone and would hug anyone, even if they didn't like her or insulted her… she just kept smiling. As time went by, everyone knew about her and Yakko… but no matter what they said about either of them, he always put them in their place and she was always glowing. Pride followed her in every step she took, confidence build up in her eyes and even if they still tried to put her down, no one succeeded.

Copycat… Copycat, who? Paula Crawford, Yakko Warner's girl, oh, that's her? Not the prettiest girl, that's for sure –oh yeah? That's my goddess over there; yep, that's me, and I couldn't be happier… so hi, how are you this fine day?

I was happy about her, I truly was, but… honestly?

I was miserable for myself, because I lost my friend. Forever. She was no longer my Paula, no longer the scared little fairy I'd cradled so many times, no longer the girl whose smile I loved more than anything in the world, no longer that shivering tiny person that once, just once, held me in her arms for one whole night and I'd hardly remember what that felt like, since I wasn't even awake…

She was just my brother's girlfriend.

And that won't seem to be changing, not anytime soon; since it's been a fact for years now… now me, in my teen years, I can just look at her from afar, laughing with him, playing in the grass or under the rain and it would just hurt… hurt, hurt, hurt…

But wanna hear the worst part of it all? One day she came up to me to give me a hug –which I didn't even return, since it felt cold and different –and told me this, all to my face:

"You're my bestest friend in the whole world! You gave me something, something greater than I could ever imagine! The biggest gift you could, your brother… you gave me life… I could never thank you enough, Wakko! I hated him, but if it wasn't for your little meddling around, we would never-"

"…what? But… Paula, you… you had a crush on him, remember? Before you two even… met eye to eye, I… saw you, that one time-"

"What? No, I couldn't stand him!" she laughed "After everything he did to me in that studio room and what he said when we did meet for the first time, I hated his guts so much! I wanted nothing to do with him at all… I forced myself to tolerate him because of you… because I need you, I wanted you –as a friend, don't get me wrong, you were just a kid, man –but…I kept telling myself, I'll put up with anything, just so I can keep a buddy like Wak. And… look what happened. Turns out he didn't even hate me and I had no reason to hate him, at all… all because of you, sweetie… thank you so much…" Paula smiled brightly at me, while I felt like choking on the air around me, only managing to blurt out, somehow:

"B-b-but… I saw you, once… you were drawing hearts next to his poster, with a marker, I…you were…"

It took her a long time to recall that memory, then she laughed again, even louder:

"You- oh sweetie… no… I was drawing those hearts next to YOUR face, because you… you were my first and I think only true friend… I never meant anything perverted by it, but I loved you, just because you reached out to care, even only a few times… it meant so much to me then, you… you did." She finished with a shrug, still smiling, while I felt moist form in my own eyes.

Lie… please, say it's a lie…

All this time, all of these years, everything…

That would've never happened if I…

…I did this? I gave you to my brother without even knowing and you…

…never interested? But now…

"I'm glad things were so messy." She sighed happily, then pat me on the shoulder "I never thought I'd love someone as much as I love Yak… he's just… I love my life now and it's all because of you two…"

Say something, say anything…

Please, just go away, don't, I can't cry here, this isn't fair, why this, what happened, I don't want this, please…

Just one look would make my heart break; growing up would make it change its ways. No, I never had a crush on Paula, not back then, since I was too little… but as I grew and grew, my feelings were far from friendly…

Possibly, nothing would've ever happened, and yet, if I had just kept away, kept her to myself, this… maybe…

And now…

My brother's girlfriend… and I could never have her.

Not even my friend, I couldn't even have my friend back, either…

Pressing up to her and gently covering her lips with my own I held her tight… just for once… then let her go, turned around and muttered:

"Goodbye…"

And after this, I ran… I ran and hid, from her and figured that I would, forever.

Those words, on her car? I now know who wrote them. It was her all along, as a last act of desperately trying to find a reason to hate my brother. Still, it failed.

He won.

To this day, I wonder, did she ever truly exist? Who was she, really, did she have a form, or a voice? Was she just that, a copycat, shapeshifter, was she what you wanted to see her as?

Then please, if that is the case, turn invisible or bleach with the scenery, because…

My friend is dead and gone and I can't see my brother's girlfriend anymore…

**(A/N:** I have another chapter after this one planned, but am not sure if I should post it or just leave it end like this. I wonder… what do you guys think? Either way, if this is my last chapter:

Thank you to all who supported me, you mean the world to me, your words and suggestions helped me trough a lot. Keep your fingers crossed, let's hope I win, and if not, well… I tried my best and this exists thanks to you awesome people. I don't see myself writing fanfiction anymore, OCs are out of the question, but who knows? I'm still keeping an eye on this section, so if I'm silent… I'm still never gone!

Thank you a million times and I hope you enjoyed!

Best of wishes to you all.**)**


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